I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
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Book Reviews of I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence
Book Review: What would happen if Martha Stewart took the stick out...
Summary: 4 Stars
When opening your home to a guest, you are saying "I like you, I want you to be comfortable and happy. I like you."
This is the sentiment that runs through Amy Sedaris's cookbook. As you read, though, it's important to keep in mind, Ms. Sedaris is the same woman who brought the world Strangers with Candy and who works frequently with her brother, David (I would love to take a peek at that family's DNA). If Martha Stewart is too prissy for you, Paula Deen too properly Southern, Rachael Ray too peppy, and Alton Brown too smart, Amy's book is perfect. If you get all your news from the Daily Show, but still want to entertain with something more than pork rinds, Amy's book is perfect.
Though I'm sure siblings hate being compared to each other, it's impossible not to here. Just as David tells witty stories about everything, Amy tells them about cooking and being a good hostess. Sometimes, you have to wonder "Is this part the joke, or the real suggestion." And the fun is in not knowing.
She peppers the book with Girl Scout-y suggestions and pictures that look right out of a 1970's Ladies Home Journal. But she gives damn good recipes for pie crusts and actually tells useful suggestions on how to get all kinds of stains out (urine, blood, vomit). Her menu plans and suggestions are great, too. While I seriously doubt I'll ever play host to a group of lumberjacks, I can see making the Lumberjack dinner on a winter night for a large group. The party plans should probably be viewed as ways to relax while planning a party, though. I'm not sure how well the game "Gypsy" would go with real children, but it is quite cathartic to think of leaving kids somewhere new and having them find their way home while planning a 6-year-old's birthday party. Her recipes tend to be very Greek, so I'm not sure I'll actually cook much of her suggestions, but now I know how to store meatballs in the freezer!
This book covers everything needed for planning a party, from the guest list (with suggestions not to invite the newly divorced couple), how to write a good invitation, and what to bring as a hostess gift. She also considers special occasions, such as having (or being) a houseguest, what to do when your rich old uncle stops by, how to deal with the grieving, and how to take care of the sick and old.
If you were too busy reading Me Talk Pretty One Day to pay attention to your home ec teacher, this book is for you!
Book Review: Amy's Book: I don't like you
Summary: 2 Stars
What is this book? Cookbook? Joke book? Humorous biography? Or none of the above? "I Like You" is a potpourri of good advice (replace things you break in someone's house, don't serve alcohol to people in the program), over-the-top ideas (stuffing marbles in your med cabinet to shame snoopy guests) and just weird party ideas (play "Gypsy" at a kids' party by driving them across town and making them find their way home!). Sedaris usually overreaches on her jokes, more so as the book progresses. "Joking" about back-alley abortions, drug dealers or using frozen pets as party ornaments will probably offend more than amuse. It's hard to know where reality ends and excess takes off. Sedaris counsels hosts to stock a "grief bag" for after-funeral get-togethers, and stocks it with reasonable items like Kleenex as well as odd ones like laminated holy cards. It would have been nice if she could have packaged her jokes and her good advice more obviously.
"I Like You" is another in a long line of humor books whose comedy comes from flouting the normal rules of polite behavior, insults vulnerable groups like children, the elderly and the handicapped and parades and endless stream of unfunny jokes about genitalia. The book's saving grace (I think) is in its recipes, which mostly seem reasonable and often tasty. I picked up the audio version hoping that having Sedaris read her own material would make it funnier, but no dice. Even the book's sound effects announcing "My Stain Box" (suggestions on getting out stains), and her sidebars are contrived and lack humor.
Get the book for the recipes and for ideas about way-out party favors, but skim the rest.