Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day
by David Sedaris

Me Talk Pretty One Day
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Book Summary Information

Author: David Sedaris
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-06-05
ISBN: 0316776963
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780316776967
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Me Talk Pretty One Day

Book Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day
Summary: 5 Stars

Me Talk Pretty One Day is a refreshing collection of poignant and hilarious stories. Sedaris' self-deprecating humor is as complex as it is universal. His stories revolve around the things we all love to make fun of most: family, friends and ourselves. He writes primarily about these subjects against the back-drops of North Carolina, France and New York City. Although the transition between locations is abrupt, the collection of stories is held together by Sedaris' quirky humor and wonderful story-telling.
The reader is lead through intimate stories of Sedaris' bizarre and often painful life by his equally bizarre and candid mind. It is as if you have stolen his diary and are huddled in your closet reading it, trying desperately not to laugh. We all have funny family stories; Sedaris reminds us of them with accounts of his family. But I have to think he is being modest when he claimed in an interview that his family is not as strange as you would think. It is hard for any story about any brother to compete with You Can't Kill the Rooster in which he writes about his brother, an obscenity spewing, wanna be rapper from Raleigh. However vulgar his brother Paul is, Sedaris endearingly captures the relationship between his father and brother. Paul is described as "...both my father's best ally and worst nightmare. Here was a child who, by the time he had reached the second grade, spoke much like the toothless fisherman casting their nets into Albemarle Sound" (Sedaris 61).
In Shiner Like a Diamond Sedaris writes about his sister Amy who makes her attractive features grotesque:

She is by far the most attractive member of the family, yet she spends most of her time and money disguising herself beneath prosthetic humps and appliqued skin diseases. She's got more neck braces and false teeth than she knows what to do with and her drawers and closets overflow with human hair. (Sedaris 137)

In the same story Amy wears a "fatty" suit home for Christmas to frighten her father who is obsessed with his daughter's appearance and has her face painted with bruises and scars for a magazine shoot. In the Sedaris style Amy is not just weird and entertaining but also very lovable.
These family stories make up most of the first half of the collection. Due to his eccentricity, Sedaris' father is a favorite subject. In Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities he tries desperately to have his children form a jazz quartet. This of course results is a series of disappointments when each child eventually quits their assigned instrument. This story also includes a bit about Sedaris' dream to sing jingles in the voice of Billie Holiday which can be fully appreciated only when listening to the author read the story himself (this is an excellent book to listen to on tape). Sedaris' respect for his father comes out in Genetic Engineering, through a story about his work at IBM and his children's absolute disinterest in his job. In Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist Sedaris' father's naive humor is a welcome addition to an otherwise long-winded story. Through all the stories, his family threads its way through bittersweet memories and ridiculous situations with Sedaris' own blend of tender sarcasm.
The second half of the book is made up of stories primarily about Sedaris' experiences in France. There is virtually no transition between the stories about his childhood in North Carolina and these later stories about learning French and living in Paris with his boyfriend. However, the quality of the stories makes up for this abrupt leap of time and place. After reading other stories in this book and stories in Barrel Fever and hearing pieces on National Public Radio, it is clear that Sedaris is an excellent observer of culture. He is in fine form in Me Talk Pretty One Day.
In several stories he writes about the challenge of learning French. Sedaris' observations of both French culture and language are outrageously funny and touching. In the stories Me Talk Pretty One Day and Jesus Shaves he describes his French class taught by a teacher whose "temperament was not based on a series of good and bad days, but, rather good and bad moments" (Sedaris 170). In See You Again Yesterday he writes an overview of his first six trips to France with his boyfriend Hugh. Reading it makes me marvel at the unending patience Hugh must have. As the stories develop so does Sedaris' grasp of the language; by Smart Guy Sedaris is taking an IQ test in French.
In many of these stories Sedaris uses his experience in France to reflect on American culture. I Pledge Allegiance to the Bag is a dissociated view of America that most Americans fail to see. But at the same time, as in all these stories, Sedaris forces us to laugh at ourselves. In Picka Pocketoni Sedaris listens as an American couple assumes he is French (and therefore can't understand a word of English) and berates him for smelling bad and being a pick pocket. Sedaris creates a snapshot of these quintessential American tourists. I can see them with their fanny packs and cameras and Sedaris quietly hunched in the corner, waiting to write it all down.
Though some of the stories are too long, namely Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist and The Late Show, Sedaris repeatedly redeems himself. He is weird and can laugh at himself. He is sweet and sarcastic in the same breath. He is a talented story-teller. Sedaris says the things we think but tells them better than we would ever hope. Above all, he is hilarious.

Summary of Me Talk Pretty One Day

A recent transplant to Paris, humorist David Sedaris, bestselling author of "Naked", presents a collection of his strongest work yet, including the title story about his hilarious attempt to learn French. A number one national bestseller now in paperback.
"It's a pretty grim world when I can't even feel superior to a toddler." Welcome to the curious mind of David Sedaris, where dogs outrank children, guitars have breasts, and French toddlers unmask the inadequacies of the American male. Sedaris inhabits this world as a misanthrope chronicling all things petty and small. In Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris is as determined as ever to be nobody's hero--he never triumphs, he never conquers--and somehow, with each failure, he inadvertently becomes everybody's favorite underdog. The world's most eloquent malcontent, Sedaris has turned self-deprecation into a celebrated art form--one that is perhaps best experienced in audio. "Go Carolina," his account of "the first battle of my war against the letter s" is particularly poignant. Unable to disguise the lisp that has become his trademark, Sedaris highlights (to hilarious extent) the frustration of reading "childish s-laden texts recounting the adventures of seals or settlers named Sassy or Samuel." Including 23 of the book version's 28 stories, two live performances complete with involuntary laughter, and an uncannily accurate Billie Holiday impersonation, the audio is more than a companion to the text; it stands alone as a performance piece--only without the sock monkeys. (Running time: 5 hours, 4 cassettes) --Daphne Durham

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