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Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 117,097 ratings · 4,346 reviews

David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother's wedding. He mops his sister's floor. He gives directions to a lost traveler. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn't it? In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner...more

Hardcover, 252 pages

Published June 1st 2004 by Little, Brown and Company

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Jun 06, 2009 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

I thought I was over David Sedaris. I don't mean that I don't like him. I do. His essays are funny, but after a while they all seem to run together. He mines the same territory again and again -- stories of growing up with his dysfunctional, quirky, yet lovable family. Stories of himself as the odd and awkward kid growing up and trying to figure out how to live in this world.

I wasn’t going to buy Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in print, but I saw the audio version, read by Sedaris himse...more I thought I was over David Sedaris. I don't mean that I don't like him. I do. His essays are funny, but after a while they all seem to run together. He mines the same territory again and again -- stories of growing up with his dysfunctional, quirky, yet lovable family. Stories of himself as the odd and awkward kid growing up and trying to figure out how to live in this world.

I wasn’t going to buy Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in print, but I saw the audio version, read by Sedaris himself, on sale at CompUSA when they were going out of business and selling their entire inventory for cheap. I couldn’t resist even though I much prefer to read books rather than to listen to them. I did nothing with it for more than a year until I decided I should listen to it while going for walks around my neighborhood.

I found myself rolling my eyes, not laughing, and quickly becoming bored. Finally I had the idea to take the book with me when I drove places. I felt I would get through it much quicker that way and could finally move on to something else.

It turned out that that was the way to listen to David Sedaris. Walking around the neighborhood while thinking about the pain in my hip and how at 38 years old I’m afraid I’m going to have to have a fucking hip replacement is no way to appreciate him. I just wanted to slap the shit out of him and his idiosyncratic family/neighbors/and everyone else he was talking about. Relaxed and driving on the freeway with his pleasant voice in my ear was the way to go. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that it made me want to listen to his books rather than read them, which was kind of a first for me.

That being said, it’s not going to come as a big surprise that this collection is more of the same types of stories we’ve heard in the past, but I have to say that Sedaris really shines when he talks about his sister, Tiffany, and his brother, Paul (a.k.a. The Rooster). Those were my favorites in the collection.

I was also sad to learn that Sedaris’s mother, Sharon, has passed away. I’ll never forget his Ya-Ya refusing to call Sharon by her name and stubbornly referring to her as “The Girl” because she was pissed she wasn’t Greek. And if you already know and love The Rooster, man are you in for a treat when Sedaris reads in Paul’s voice. Something about this charming, well-spoken man saying the words “She had tubes coming out of her pussy” in a thick southern accent cracked me up more than reading it on the page ever could.(less)

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Jul 15, 2007 David rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So. David Sedaris.
Well, let's be clear. Nobody with a funnybone can hate David Sedaris. And neither do I. But it has to be said - that last book ("Dress your family in corduroy and denim") was quite a disappointment. Judging by the number of people showing up for his readings here in San Francisco, and its lengthy sojourn on The New York Times bestseller list, it obviously did pretty well commercially. And, based on the enormous amount of accumulated goodwill from his earlier books, I don't beg...more So. David Sedaris.
Well, let's be clear. Nobody with a funnybone can hate David Sedaris. And neither do I. But it has to be said - that last book ("Dress your family in corduroy and denim") was quite a disappointment. Judging by the number of people showing up for his readings here in San Francisco, and its lengthy sojourn on The New York Times bestseller list, it obviously did pretty well commercially. And, based on the enormous amount of accumulated goodwill from his earlier books, I don't begrudge DS his commercial success. Not one bit.

Well, OK. Maybe just a little bit. Because, for the first time, in this collection, we see clear indications that Sedaris is bumping up against his limitations. How so? I think (and make no claim for the originality of this analysis) it's because Sedaris is at his best when he writes from the point of view of slightly marginalized outsider. In his earlier stuff, he was poor, he's gay and he managed to achieve a tone of bemusement in reporting what went on around him that was completely hilarious. In the face of increasing commercial success, the edge that was conferred by his being poor became harder to maintain. But he and his boyfriend moved to France, thereby achieving automatic outsider status, and Sedaris was able to mine this for comedy gold (his accounts of misadventures while learning French are truly funny, and credit must be given for the way in which he makes the comedy seem so effortless). But that's his previous book Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Problem is, the whole 'marginalized outsider' position seems less and less plausible for an author whose books spend months on the best seller list. Similarly, after a few years in France, the forces of assimilation are bound to cut down on the number of amusing misunderstandings funny enough to be worth writing about. This leaves one other area which Sedaris has mined fruitfully in previous books - anecdotes about his family. Indeed, the majority of the stories in this latest collection are family-based anecdotes. However, the stories in this collection do not come close to matching the wit and poignancy of those in earlier books, suggesting that this vein of inspiration may be close to being tapped out. Hardly surprising - any author would lead with the funniest material; this collection has occasional flashes of wit, but never reaches the 'laugh-out-loud' quality of the earlier books. Several pieces in this collection (describing his brother's wedding, his job one summer at the State Fair) are downright pedestrian, and a couple of pieces just fall flat - ruminations about apartment-hunting while visiting the Anne Frank house, accounts of visits with two of his sisters, whose feelings about being featured as bit-players in this, or subsequent collections are decidedly mixed. It's to Sedaris's credit that he too is ambivalent on this point, but his soul-searching on the issue doesn't make for interesting reading.

One of Yeats's later poems is called "The Circus Animals' Desertion"; in it, he bemoans the fact that the themes which inspired him early in his career have lost their inspirational power. "Dress your family in corduroy and denim" supports the notion that David Sedaris may be experiencing similar difficulties. But don't count him out yet. His previous books estalished Sedaris as a hilarious, extremely talented writer. Anyone can have one bad book. Let's hope he will leave it at that.

(less)

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Jul 26, 2007 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: post-college-greats

This book makes me laugh myself sick every time I read it. Blood Work and La Nuit of the Dead are put together so perfectly. Sedaris creates a series of misguided attempts at human connection that seem doomed to fail through selfishness or insecurity, but somehow don’t. Sedaris is so good at exposing the frailty of those emotional connections without ever doubting that they can still sustain our relationships. He makes me relate to even the most impossibly awkward and painful situations. Every t...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Angus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-and-blogged, nonfiction

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

Intro

If you’ve been following this blog closely, you will realize that I picked this up right after finishing Me Talk Pretty One Day. I have this habit of fangirling over stuff that got me. A victim of this habit is Sedaris. Or maybe I am the victim? Either way, the fangirling usually doesn’t last. It rarely lasts.

Thus said, this is the last Sedaris book that I read. Why is that? First, I got caught up with other books. Second, his books aren’t always available...more

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Apr 30, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: it-is-for-class, nonfictions

this is a book by david sedaris.
shrug.

i mean, what else am i supposed to say? it's not like he went out on a limb here and wrote a space opera or a bodice ripper. it's david sedaris. if you like him, you will probably like this one. if you don't, you probably won't.

this is not my favorite of his collections, but i laughed out loud three times, which i think is pretty good. i like laughter.

**one time, connor made david sedaris laugh. he has yet to write a story about this incident, but we are all...more

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May 16, 2008 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like to laugh, people who think they're funny but really aren't

Shelves: all-time-favorite-books

A collection of writings by David Sedaris.

Quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read.

(There's a little language and stuff, so I don't recommend reading it out loud to the kids. But I guarantee you will laugh out loud to anyone sitting near you. Which means don't read it on a crowded airplane.)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 03, 2010 Jesi marked it as didn-t-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, non-fiction, memoir, short-stories, read-in-2010, audio, tnbbc-group-read

So, I got about 7% into the book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim before just not being able to listen to it anymore. It, quite literally, was making me sick to listen to it. The main characters are shallow, "broken," and... well, the stuff of sitcom characters. They're (to me) sick, but "normal" which was making my head explode. I suppose, in a way, you could say that the book was "dark humor," which is pretty hit or miss to me.

The family really could have been spawned for Married With C...more

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Sep 25, 2008 Lucy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What if you could write about whatever you wanted? What if no topics were off limits, no person's feelings or privacy taken into consideration, no personal flaws purposely left unmentioned in order to be protected from ridicule?

You would probably write exactly like David Sedaris.

To actually write like David Sedaris, however, you'd also have to be intelligent, impeccably attentive to details and most importantly - uncommonly funny. With that winning combination, Sedaris's unencumbered writing cre...more What if you could write about whatever you wanted? What if no topics were off limits, no person's feelings or privacy taken into consideration, no personal flaws purposely left unmentioned in order to be protected from ridicule?

You would probably write exactly like David Sedaris.

To actually write like David Sedaris, however, you'd also have to be intelligent, impeccably attentive to details and most importantly - uncommonly funny. With that winning combination, Sedaris's unencumbered writing creates a truly fascinating look into his life and way of thinking.

Take, for instance, a neighborhood family that supposedly doesn't watch any television. You've know them, or at least heard about them. But have you hidden yourself in bushes outside their house watching them at night? Sedaris spied on this family with fascination, watching them interact at the dinner table during the evenings and feeling sorry for the absence of television in their lives. After watching one of their children at school being left out of a joke that made reference to a TV show, Sedaris writes, "It occurred to me that they needed a guide, someone who could point out all the things they were unable to understand. I could have done it on weekends, but friendship would have taken away their mystery and interfered with the good feeling I got from pitying them. So I kept my distance."

Then, when this same family showed up for Trick-Or-Treating the day after Halloween, Sedaris expresses what must be universally believed: "Asking for candy on Halloween was called trick-or-treating, but asking for candy on November first was called begging, and it made people uncomfortable. This was one of the things you were supposed to learn simply by being alive, and it angered me that the Tomkeys did not understand it."

The subject matter varies wildly from chapter to chapter, but each contains Sedaris's hilarious spin on what would probably appear to most outsiders, nothing to write home about. Although there are several uncomfortable chapters that touch on situations involving his homosexuality, his willingness to expose himself, and, I suppose his willingness to expose his loved ones, give his writing an important and appreciated perspective. It's so enjoyably honest! I mean, he writes about going through the Anne Frank House while simultaneous apartment hunting and wanting to live there because it's "cute." Totally irreverent. But when he talks about ripping out the wood stove so that the fireplace would be the focal point and thinking the attic, with its charming dormer windows, could be his office...it ends up being really funny.

The best chapter for me was called Six To Eight Black Men when he describes in laugh-out-loud detail the Christmas traditions in the Netherlands. Of course he begins the chapter by pointing out some of the more unusual local gun laws in various states of the USA, mentioning as an interesting fact that in Michigan - blind people are allowed to hunt...alone. As the chapter nears its end, and you wonder what the two stories have to do with each other, he finishes by sharing his thoughts while sitting in a Dutch train station. "I couldn't help but feel second-rate. Yes, the Netherlands was a small country, but it had six to eight black men and a really good bedtime story. Being a fairly competitive person, I felt jealous, then bitter. I was edging toward hostile when I remembered the blind hunter tramping off alone into the Michigan forest. He may bag a deer, or he may happily shoot a camper in the stomach. He may find his way back to the car, or he may wander around for a week or two before stumbling through your back door. We don't know for sure, but in pinning that license to his chest, he inspires the sort of narrative that ultimately makes me proud to be an American."

Funny, funny stuff.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2008 Michael Kneeland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-masterpieces

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim delves further into the fascinating, hilarious, and otherwise utterly bizarre life of David Sedaris and his family. This collection of his essays is quite good--among my favorites of his--because throughout most of it, he manages to find a moving balance between the tragic and the comic.

Take, for instance, "The Ship Shape," about how his family almost bought a summer home, but ultimately lost out on the chance because of his father's fickleness with money...more Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim delves further into the fascinating, hilarious, and otherwise utterly bizarre life of David Sedaris and his family. This collection of his essays is quite good--among my favorites of his--because throughout most of it, he manages to find a moving balance between the tragic and the comic.

Take, for instance, "The Ship Shape," about how his family almost bought a summer home, but ultimately lost out on the chance because of his father's fickleness with money. The essay starts off humorously enough, with plenty of zany details, like the absurd names his family comes up with for the summer home in question. But by the end, we have a rather melancholic picture painted of the family, headed by a father who would like to give his family something nice like a summer home on the beach, but is just too fickle to actually go through with it.

Then there is "Hejira," about how Sedaris' father kicked him out of the house seemingly because he was an unemployed college dropout whose number of bong hits surpassed his number of trips out of the house, but really, we learn, because he was gay. We have plenty of funny anecdotes throughout, giving us hilarious images of Sedaris sitting stoned in his room listening to the same Joni Mitchell record over and over again, but by the end, we see ultimately see a father who finds his son so unacceptable that he removes him from the situation. From reading his other works, we know that Sedaris and his father eventually mended ways, but as "Hejira" closes, we only see a depressed young man wanting to be acknowledged for being, as he puts it, "special."

Of course, there is also plenty of outright absurdity, such as "Six to Eight Black Men," which I have my students read each year during the holiday season; and "Rooster at the Hitchin' Post," which is on the outset about his obnoxious, foul-mouthed younger brother's wedding, but we eventually see is about the relationship between Sedaris and his brother. These are wholly hilarious, and do well to offset much of the depressing downheartedness emoted from the essays mentioned above.

Fans of Sedaris will certainly appreciate this collection of essays. Newbies may find his life and family a bit too bizarre to digest at first, but after pushing through will realize the palette of emotions mentioned earlier. After all, while Sedaris' life is strange and usually utterly absurd, it is still life nonetheless.(less)

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Aug 28, 2007 Jennifer Good rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone needing a laugh

oh so hilarious...

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered, but my mouth was too full to answer...as she closed the door and behind her and moved toward my bed, I began breaking the wax lips and candy necklaces pulled from pile no. 2. These were the second-best things I had received, and while it hurt to destroy them, it would have hurt evern more to give them away. I had just started to mutilate a miniature box of Red Hots when my mother pried them from my hands, accidentally finishing the...more

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Apr 09, 2009 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, memoirs, gay-lit

This is a funny book! It contains real life anecdotes experienced by the author in various stages of his life. I bought this book in LAX when I got stranded for a missed flight in Columbus in 2005. I remember that there was a funny anecdote about Christmas which made me laugh all by myself and I could relate to it because it was December and I was looking forward to going back home to Manila.

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Aug 06, 2008 Jenny Schmidt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Never before have I read a national bestseller that mentions my very own elementary school in Raleigh, NC. Yikes!

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Mar 24, 2010 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This seems to be the book that people most point to when highlighting Sedaris' talent. Like his earlier works, it is a collection of essays (27 this time) with some of them having been previously presented in various publication.

As you have probably guessed from the title, this collection focuses primarily on the various members of his families. Funny tales include examinations of his brother's wedding and sharing the experience of his brother's first child being born. His mother is truly a gem,...more

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Mar 22, 2008 Shelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: listened-to-on-ipod

The only thing more entertaining than reading one of David Sedaris's (sp;i've always had a hard time with the possessive apostrophe on 's' ending words)books is listening to one. I'm so picky about books on tape/cd/mp3/whatever. But Sedaris is great.
After the whole James Frey controversy I was doing some 'googling' and found some articles where folks were questioning Sedaris's authenticity too. This was sort of reassuring to me because I'm so jealous of his work. Not only is Sedaris full of awes...more

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Dec 21, 2007 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-and-reviewed

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a hilarious book about David Sedaris's life and family. It starts off when he was a young boy and he has to give up his Halloween candy to the neighbors. He then stuffed as much candy in his face as possible so he wouldn't have to share it. I knew right after this chapter that I was going to like this book. As you read further in the book you learn all about his family like his brother, Paul, the rooster. Different events occur in this book that tell yo...more

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Jan 28, 2013 CJ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In preparation for writing this review, I read back over my review of Naked. I do this a lot: read things I've written. I joke with my spouse that my blog is my favorite blog. Everything in it is relevant to my life, and I relate to the author so well. It's a joke, but it's true.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I found myself nodding in agreement as I read through my review of Naked. I thought about just copying and pasting that review here, with a few modifications, but that seemed like...more

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Sep 26, 2007 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like humor

I love David Sedaris. I'm actually really glad that I'm reading his works somewhat sequentially. I read Naked first and then this. And yes, I will have to read Me Talk Pretty One Day out of order.

Naked is really about growing up. It's told almost in order of events that happened in his life. Dress Your Family is more about when he's older, and I think the stories are a little less funny and exaggerated, and more poignant. I'd probably have to read it again to say for sure. My favorites are the...more

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Mar 11, 2008 kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone with a dysfunctional family.

Recommended to kimberly by: rachael estrada

Shelves: own, memoir, 2008

I don't think I can even list all my favorite moments of this book - but two stand out the most, merely because of timing. one, his description of his brother's baby. i had the same reaction at the hospital on friday while meeting Grace Trinity Faith Jones (i don't think even that many religious names will save this child). two, his description of the need to touch people, not inappropriately but unwelcome, relates to a long drawn out discussion with my judge regarding sexually battery and moles...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Whitney rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't like this book. I got the audio book to listen to on one of my drives. I couldn't finish it. I heard good things about it...that it was hilarious and that David Sedaris is great...but I just couldn't get into it. I think I forced a laugh out once just to remember what it felt like to laugh. It didn't feel right so I stopped.

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Jun 10, 2009 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jackie by: numerous coworkers and my niece

Shelves: 5-star, books-i-think-i-should-read, nonfiction, pleasure-reading

I don't ususally do audio books--I generally don't have the attention span to "just" listen to a story. But this week David's been keeping me company while I sort through years worth of former treasures and wishful thinking preparing for an upcoming move this spring. There was something poetic about him telling me about his past while I was sorting through mine. I definitely prefer the live recordings to the somewhat sterile "read by author" stuff, but Sedaris is funny no matter what. He kept me...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Adam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Honestly, I tried to like this book. Maybe it's one of those that, at page 100, kicks everything glorious into overdrive, making you gleeful and giddy and full of delight at reading it. Maybe I should have read further and waited longer. But, you see, I only really started to read this because it seemed hip at the time to do so. I'm not too sure that I care enough about maintaining some form of imagined quasi-hipness to make myself sit through the rest of it. There. I'm admitting I didn't read t...more

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Nov 29, 2008 David is currently reading it · review of another edition

Another find at the town "Transfer Station" (a.k.a. dump). Sedaris' pieces on NPR have always been fun.

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Jan 16, 2009 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good, quick read but not as good as Me TAlk Pretty.

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Jan 16, 2009 Scott Porch rated it 3 of 5 stars

My first encounter with David Sedaris was the audio version of “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” my second was the reading and signing at Davis-Kidd Bookseller in Nashville of “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” and my third was reading the latter. Of the three, hearing Sedaris himself intone his own work was the most enjoyable. His cadence and emphasis (“FIRE ISLAND”) are much the source of his humor.

Then again, reading “Dress Your Family” rather than hearing it strips out just enough of Sedaris...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Another example of my favorite genre, the "Read by the Author" audio. This couldn't be read by someone else anyway, right? Would someone else perform a Bill Cosby comedy album? And David Sedaris started on NPR, right?

Well, the book was published first, so I suppose it could have been read by anybody. But it wasn't and I almost wish it had been. I'm thinking specifically about his rendering of his brother's voice. It might be dead-on accurate but it came off, at least for me, as a strained attem...more

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May 12, 2013 Shaun rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013

It took me a while to get into this book. But the characters, all of them, began to grow on me about halfway through.

Writing about his family and his homosexuality honestly and openly with just enough humor to take the edge off, Sedaris has created an amusing read that occasionally offers some worthwhile insight into the "average" American family and all that implies.

I should add that this is not the type of book I usually read, nor do I generally gravitate towards David Sedaris' slightly force...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Juanramon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely loved this book. I previously read another of David Sedaris' books, Naked, and loved it as well, so a good friend of mine lent me this book. If you have never heard of it, the book is simply a collection of stories from the author's life.
I love how Sedaris manages to turn a few, almost everyday situations into something so humorous and relatable. Although I've never been in exact situations as the ones in this book, I feel that I was still able to really connect with most of the s...more I absolutely loved this book. I previously read another of David Sedaris' books, Naked, and loved it as well, so a good friend of mine lent me this book. If you have never heard of it, the book is simply a collection of stories from the author's life.
I love how Sedaris manages to turn a few, almost everyday situations into something so humorous and relatable. Although I've never been in exact situations as the ones in this book, I feel that I was still able to really connect with most of the stories told throughout it.
I really enjoyed Sedaris' ability to turn something simple into a story. An excerpt from the book I liked was "'My sister and I are visiting from out of town,' the woman said, a little louder now, and again the man nodded. 'I'd love to stay awhile longer and explore, but my home --well, one of my homes-- is on the garden tour, so I've got to get back to Williamsburg.' I was eleven years old, yet still the statement seemed strange to me. If she'd hoped to impress the Korean, the woman had obviously waster her breath, so who was this information for? 'My home --Well, one of my homes': by the end of the day my mother and I had repeated this line no less than fifty times. The garden tour was unimportant, but the first part of her sentence brought us great pleasure." He managed to turn a trip to the dry-cleaners and an overheard conversation into a connection with his mother, which I know I can relate to.
Another thing Sedaris does is that he thoroughly describes his family and everyone around him, and I really feel that I've met a few of the characters at least once in my life, whether it's because I have a great description in my mind, or because I may have actually met people whose personalities match a few of the characters.
The structure of the book is also something I really liked. I liked that it's more of a collection of short stories, rather than one story with one final conclusion. The reader is able to take whatever moral or conclusion they want from each story, depending on what really stuck out to them.
I would suggest this book to someone who is looking for a good chuckle. It's an easy read, and I think most people will find at least one connection with this book. I would recommend it to anyone who isn't uncomfortable with a few drug and sex references. Overall, I think this book is a must-read, as it is absolutely fantastic.(less)

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Mar 31, 2013 Christopher Bunn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish

I couldn't finish this book. I think I read about a third of it and then got fed up. Sedaris is a good writer, don't get me wrong. In fact, he's a very good writer. However, Corduroy and Denim is just a series of narcissistic vignettes. I don't enjoy that sort of thing. Keep your therapy private. I would've kept on reading if Sedaris was funny, but he isn't, despite his reputation for humor. How on earth is he supposed to be funny? I have fairly eclectic taste in humor (Woody Allen, Wodehouse, A...more

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Mar 16, 2013 John Beck rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, non-fiction

http://andalittlewine.blogspot.com/2012/06/dress-your-family-in-corduroy-and-den...

I recently finished the audiobook of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. It was a treat.

Sedaris' essays span his life, beginning with his childhood in North Carolina, through his college years and after, and into what the reader presumes is his present life living and writing in France. He is the center of all of his stories, and he spends most of his time examining his loneliness, his isolat...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Hernan Sanhueza rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a re-introduction to reading. I suffer from a brain imbalance that has been both crippling and absolutely liberating. That 'ailment' has proved to be both a blessing and the proverbial curse. I only share this with you to put perspective on what I know to be true. Sedaris's going back and forth in time coupled with my own 'journal' entries solidify what is true. I do not think, nor process information linearly; I jump around and I look forward to re-reading what has been put down on pen t...more

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About David Sedaris

David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist and radio contributor.

Sedaris came to prominence in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "SantaLand Diaries." He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. Each of his four subsequent essay collections, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Fa ...more

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Quotes from Dress Your Family in C...

“Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings” — 388 people liked it

“He took a sip of my father’s weak coffee and spit it back into the mug. "This shit’s like making love in a canoe."
"Excuse me?"
"It’s fucking near water.” — 366 people liked it

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title link	preview: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
avg rating	preview: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Goodreads rating: 4.03 (117097 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/402129.Dress_Your_Family_in_Corduroy_and_Denim?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344265807l/402129.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/402129.Dress_Your_Family_in_Corduroy_and_Denim?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris[/url]

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

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