Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Summary: A collection of humourous essays "which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France."

My thoughts: Wow, the Sedaris family is sure...interesting! I read his sister Amy's I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence earlier this year and it was one of the most bizarre books I've ever read (funny, but gosh-darn weird). And apparently it runs in the family! I enjoyed the first essay on being forced into speech therapy in elementary school for his lisp (where, he says, there should have been a Future Homosexuals of America sign on the door of the speech lab, since none of the popular jock boys had lisps). Sedaris Sr. sounds like quite the dad, from his desperate desire for his children to form a band, despite their lack of musical talent and interest all the way to the final chapter, which discusses his hoarding of rotten food. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about trying to explain Easter in French to a Moroccan woman, as well as the other French class ones. I don't think Sedaris will top my favourite humourist ever, Dave Barry (and, recently in second place, Billy Bryson), but I enjoyed the essays and laughed out loud a few times. I have a feeling he'd be even better in audiobook format, but my library is very scant on them, unfortunately.