Witty, wry, bitter, delightful.

My mom gave me the book. I was living in France at the time, so she thought David Sedaris and I would have a ton in common. She went to a Sedaris booksigning to get a personalized message to her gay son in France. After he was done reading, she jumped up to get him to write a note to me, "David! My son is gay! He's living in France right now, please sign this copy for him!" He had already started an orderly signing process, going down the rows. He looked at her dis More...

I just don't care for David Sedaris.

There, I've said it. I've made peace with the fact. I have stared deep into the cockles of my heart, and forced myself to come to the only obvious-but-unpopular conclusion.

I just don't care for David Sedaris.

It was somewhat of an existential struggle for me to reach this conclusion because I'm exactly the kind of person who should like David Sedaris.

I am a sarcastic Generation Xer with an overdeveloped sense of irony. I enjoy reading personal essays about poi More...

That about sums it up.

Because, what's the point to these anecdotes? Are you trying to tell me something Mr. Sedaris? I think not. You think you're funny? Meh, not that funny. Special? You're not that special either. You're a writer, just another writer. What's the big deal?

As I said, I don't care much for your little stories. Seriously, my dear, I don't give a damn.

I've been thinking a lot about this, and I have come to the conclusion that David Sedaris is one of the worst human beings in history, i.e., since human beings were first invented by an incompetent, Jerry Lewis-like god or by the inscrutable permutations of natural phenomena. This isn't a moral judgment. It's more like when someone tells you that you have spinach stuck in your teeth. It's both the mere reportage of a fact and a public service. Because, after all, you wouldn't want to walk around More...

This book has been my tube companion for the past fortnight. It is the perfect accompaniment to the London commute for two reasons:

1) The essays are perfectly formed, so you can be assured that you'll be able to finish 3 little chunks over 40 minutes or so. Once the train trundled into Westminster station I would know to quicken my pace so as to finish another section before alighting at Blackfriars and elbowing some bankers.

2) My tube line is the epitome of the British stiff upper lip. People's More...

Very very funny and David reading these stories himself was just the icing of the cake. Lots of lol moments, especially precious memories.

Read again on 22 January, 2012 ,

Recently a goodread friend asked me whether he should read David Sedaris. I said yes, of course, but at the same time, I started rummaging around my place, turning my house upside down looking for my audiobook CD. Reading Margaret Atwood got me in a really gloomy mood recently, but David Sedaris has successfully cheered me up a More...

If I were in someone else's bathroom and there were no other reading materials except for something by David Sedaris, I would pick it up and flip through it. I probably would even find myself slightly amused. But my basic opinion about David Sedaris - which is that he is boring, not very funny, mean and bitchy, and too lazy to write a novel - would remain unchanged.

Remember when people who had fucked up or interesting lives drew on their personal experiences to create artful, often symbolic sto More...

"You could turn up your nose at the president or Coke or even God, but there were names for boys who didn't like sports."

"Lisa had been born with a lazy leg that had refused to grow at the same rate as it's twin. I liked the idea that a part of one's body might be thought of as lazy--not thoughtless or hostile, just unwilling to extend itself for the betterment of the team."

"She was what we called Tanorexic."

"My father is the type who once recited a bawdy limerick: "A woman I know who's quite bl More...

Before I picked up this book I knew nothing about David Sedaris. If someone said to me now, "so why should I give a damn about David Sedaris" I probably still wouldn't be able to offer an adequate defence. What does David Sedaris do? Ummmm, I think he writes books about being David Sedaris.

But, to be fair and accurate he writes pretty funny books about being David Sedaris so if you think that comedy trumps vanity then come on in and join the David Sedaris club. On the whole I suspect that David More...

I read Me Talk Pretty One Day on the recommendation of my roommate, the fabulous WER. She gave me her copy of the book, so with a strong recommendation and a free read, I couldn’t possibly refuse.

Me Talk Pretty One Day is a rough autobiography of writer and humorist David Sedaris. I say a “rough” autobiography because it is not told in chronological order, nor is it a straightforward chronological account of the events of his life. Instead, he presents life as a series of vignettes, some of whi More...

Siempre había tenido curiosidad por leer algo de David Sedaris. Lo que me acabó de animar fue una comparación de su mirada sarcástica y crítica con la de Dorothy Parker. Ahora no me acuerdo de dónde leí esta comparación, pero ya os digo que quien la dijo se lució de lo lindo. No digo que esté mal, porque se lee muy bien y muy rápido, y tiene momentos graciosos, aunque nunca desternillantes, y encima cuando ya llevas unos diez cuentitos suyos se hacen algo cansinos, porque es como ir a cenar con More...

So I know this is totally cheating, but I never actually read this book, I listened to it on CD. And I am against the whole book-on-tape idea to begin with, but I needed something easy to listen to on my commute home a few months ago when I was still living all the way in NJ with my parents, and a lot of people whose sense of humor I appreciate told me David Sedaris was hysterical. Actually, I didn't even listen to the whole book, it was so bad I think I only made it past 4 stories. So here is m More...

Yes. I realize this book is supposed to be hilarious. Yes. I realize I'm not a hip gen-x'er if I don't happen to think it is. Yet...

I feel like Sedaris accurately summed up his entire approach to writing on page 44: "True art was based upon despair, and the important thing was to make yourself and those around you as miserable as possible." He meant this as satire, I'm sure...but what I found truly halarious was that he didn't even realize that he just described the book I was currently reading. More...

So, maybe not exactly literary fiction as it would technically fall under creative non-fiction. However, I personally think creative non-fiction should be considered a form of literary fiction considering not everything, or even most things, in a creative non-fiction story have to be strictly “real”. Besides, this is one of my all-time favorite books!

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris takes place in two parts: Part One and Part Deux. In part one Sedaris tells stories of his childhood and f More...

What did I learn from this book? That embellishing your life can be okay when you're a great storyteller, no harm's done to anyone, and everyone who reads it knows it's ridiculous and loves you for the constant chuckles.

David Sedaris knows all about timing and spacing. Many of his essays and quips are built around the perfectly turned phrase, the expertly used grammar, and the flat-out zaniness of the subjects. (He's probably not hurting for ammo with a sibling like Amy Sedaris of Strangers With More...

I must have brought at least three books to Paris with me for the summer, and I read them all within the first week or two. So it was that I found myself to be extremely bored trekking with Stephanie through Paris to all of these different offices to make sure her student visa was in order. And as I waited in the hall, I pulled this book from her bag which she'd been to busy to read yet.

And I couldn't stop laughing. From page one, I was hooked and laughing in a loud, ugly, American way, while al More...

I originally read this collection of comic essays when it came out ten years ago. But after picking up a used copy for a friend who had never heard of David Sedaris (how is that even possible?) I found myself unable to resist rereading it.

Despite my familiarity with the book, I enjoyed it as much if not more than the first time. All of the essays are interesting (presuming you find the oddball musings of a neurotic gay misanthrope interesting, that is) but there are also many pieces in this book More...

This book had a bit going for it, in that I do like monologue type books, such as Nick Hornby's work. The main character of this book, however, is what ruined it for me. Regardless of how real it is, having a main character who seems lazy, boring and overly-judgmental just wasn't interesting enough. And sure, a lot of Hornby narrators are similar, but usually it's told in such a way that you know they're off-base. So much of the narration in this book had a tone of arrogance when I could see no More...

I've felt somewhat guilty having this book labeled "nah" all along. Then someone (yes, you) went and mentioned it. I still wouldn't bother with it again but maybe an explanation will help assuage my guilty feelings. It started out great. I was completely digging it. Then after a while the sarcasm and bitter outlook got stale for me. It wasn't tempered with anything else. Had he wrapped it all up in far fewer pages maybe I would have still been snickering and given it more stars.

i get why people think he's funny, but i don't know, i just didn't. i never laughed outloud, and i'm one to cry, smile, gasp, bite my nails, and/or give big appreciative laughs when the author gives me reason (even while sitting in public places and at inappropriate times). i never was given reason. though, i can recoginze why he is enjoyed by so many, mr. sedaris and i don't connect.

I heart David Sedaris. His stories are sooooo funny! I almost feel like you miss out when you read his book rather than listening to him tell his stories. Especially when he talks about how he wants to sing old radio jingles in the voice of Billy Holiday. You read it and it's funny - but when you hear him - in a voice so like Billy Holiday it's shocking - singing My bologne has a first name...it's o...s...c...a...r. it's just a hoot!

Man is he funny. Like if Garrison Keillor were gay and favored More...

there's nothing wrong with laughing until you cry

I recommend this to anyone who wants to laugh and read book that is both well written and entertaining. Possibly one of the funniest books I have read; David Sedaris displays his exceptional storytelling skills as well as his great wit, insight, and sarcasm that set the tone of his writing in Me Talk Pretty One Day. Sedaris recounts a collection of droll events from his childhood to his adult life in France. The genius of the book lies in his singular talent for noticing humor in any given situa More...

The word that is coming to mind as a descriptor for Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris is deceptive. But, that word has all kinds of negative connotations, and I'm struggling thesaurusless to find a word that evokes the right combination of simplicity plus cleverness with a twist of ironic self-deprecation hiding a heartfelt (or is it disingenuous? or perhaps just conflicted and complex?) poignancy.

Sedaris (at least here in Me Talk Pretty...) is Budweiser with an absinthe chaser. He's go More...

David Sedaris... I can't really say enough. With an ascerbic wit and sometimes uncomfortably unflinching eye he relates the stories of his growing up in this hilarious but dark memoir. The brushstrokes with which he paints the characters of his family are sometimes broad and loving, sometimes knife-sharp, always insightful (I suppose, since it's only through this book that I know his family). There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, such as a time when,as a young boy, his mother was tailoring More...

so i wrote a book review on this book for a class assignment (haha-i'm not that nerdy that i write lengthy book reviews in my spare time)
David Sedaris is bringing back the funny with his new novel, Me Talk Pretty One Day. His sidesplitting humor stems from his North Carolina upbringing and his colorful parents, siblings, and friends. This work is a collection of autobiographical essays that seem too obscure to come from a true account of his life, but I guess Sedaris is just that weird. His cyni More...

I've had to pause to savor the finish of Sedaris's writing's bouquet before making any remarks. I apologize for the stupid metaphor, but a really good Beaujoulais nouveau is what I keep thinking of when trying to describe this collection of memoir essays.

Sedaris somehow manages a feat I would have said was not merely impossible but unimaginable: He comes across with the sharp wit of the urban sophisticate, somehow lacking the smarmy outsider's stance such wit requires. His hilarious observations More...

Sedaris is good enough with words to make you chuckle at what otherwise would be considered mundane experiences (guitar lessons, becoming a mover, taking French classes), but he is much better at telling the stories of other people. In this memoir about his life, I found myself wishing he would spend more time on his parents or siblings (like Amy). Through his words, I found myself appreciating where Strangers with Candy originated and Amy Sedaris' comic genius came from.

Overall, I found this bo More...

Fun. Silly. Wacky. So I have heard David Sedaris on the radio and even seen him in person at a book reading, but this is the first time I actually delved into one of his written works. I did wish I could have heard him actually reading the stories with his particular stresses and pauses, but overall it was a quick and enjoyable read.

I particularly enjoyed some of his descriptions about goofy and odd things that his family members would do. They were great! Also, I could completely relate to his More...

Uneven. Some portions of this book are utterly hilarious and pitch-perfect: his descriptions of his sister's sun-tanning regime, the interaction of his parents with family dogs, and the relationship of his brother "The Rooster" and his father were all incredibly engaging, very funny, and unvarnished without being diminishing of the people involved.

The stories of narcotic dissipation and personal development (more or less) were less interesting, and painful to read. Perhaps that says something a More...