Rating: 
Summary: Eh
Review: I'd heard a lot of good things about Sedaris. As a humor columnist myself, I thought I could learn a thing or two from the guy. And I did, but only by learning from his mistakes. I'm sure it was funny to a lot of people, but as a straight male, I had a hard time relating to his experiences. There were definitely moments where I laughed, but his attempts at being personal were lost on me.
Rating: 
Summary: Could Not Put It Down
Review: It is often hard for authors to keep the reader focused when writing a book full of essays. They can drag on, and may not interest the reader. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is just the opposite. It is a very well written book of novels that I could not put down. Sedaris possesses a unique writing style that will keep the reader reading for hours at a time and laughing out loud. His peculiar life situations are what kept me focused, entertained, and amused. David Sedaris has a laid-back writing style and a carefree way of living. This showed me that life does not always have to be taken too seriously. His nonchalant attitude is admirable. I strongly recommend this book to mature readers that crave a good laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Summary and Reaction to me talk pretty one day
Review: Page 141-200
The collections of short stories in Me Talk Pretty One Day are still similar to the stories that I summarized prior to this. Each story is about something noteworthy that has taken place. The chapter begins on page 142, where David Sedaris writes about his dislike for computers, and all modern technology. The following story tells about how he met his partner and about his new home France. After getting together with his partner Hugh, Sedaris moves to France with Hugh, who lives there most of year. Mostly everything Sedaris does revolves around France, and Hugh throughout the rest of the story. Some of these things include Sedaris trying to learn French, and Sedaris's relationship with his friends and family. The next story is titled Jesus Shaves. This deals with Sedaris's opinions on religion. He questions why things such as why a rabbit was chosen to be the symbol of Easter. The following two chapters deal with his troubles of learning to speak French. One struggle was his inability of learning the correct verb endings. When he would purchase groceries he would always buy more than necessary in order to hide his embarrassment of not being able to understand the plurals of French words. The pages of 138-200 deal with his struggles.
This collection of short stories lack a transition from his childhood in North Carolina and these later stories about learning French and living in Paris with his boyfriend. Luckily, the quality, and humor in each story are so great that the lack of a transition does not matter! The story titled Jesus Shaves is a great example of the quality of humor Sedaris writes because his opinions are so diverse and different from most others. Who would have questioned why a rabbit represents Easter, especially with humor? Sedaris questions anything he can, and does it well. He writes everything with humor, which is rare for a writer to do well. This made me appreciate his stories even more! I thought it was great when he wrote about his experience of learning French. He was determined and dedicated. Teachers that hated him, and would rather have a cesarean section than be with him did not stop his quest for mastering the language. I admire him for putting up with those sorts of things. I try to relate myself to him in that way because I believe it will make me try harder at things that are not effortless. The most astonishing thing is that this book can be so great, even though he has not done anything important to write an autobiography about himself.1. Page 177, "He nice, the Jesus. He makes the good things, and on the Easter we be sad because somebody makes him dead today." This quote symbolizes the title, Me Talk Pretty One Day. My interpretation of the title is that he believes he will not be heard until he can talk well. The quote uses bad grammar, and cannot show what the person is trying to say in the best possible way. The quote should really say something like, Jesus is superior because he makes everything good and on Easter we mourn his death. This would inform people much better because it uses better grammar.
Rating: 
Summary: Me Can't Read this Out Loud Without Laughing!
Review: My sister recommended this book to me, after she warned me, "It's a bit warped, because I dropped it in the bathtub when I was laughing so hard"! ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY is a collection of David Sedaris' autobiographical short stories, which describe his childhood speech problems, his father's obsession with forming a jazz band with his progeny, his move to Paris with his boyfriend, and his attempts to master the art of speaking French while living in France. I've been looking for years for an heir to James Thurber -- someone whose mastery of observation excels at describing everyday incidents without stripping away their intrinsically bizarre nature. I'm pleased to find this heir in David Sedaris, whose short stories are nakedly honest and touchingly fresh. Sedaris shares things which most of us would not even write in our own private diaries, such as, "Because I am both a glutton and a masochist, my standard complaint, 'That was so bad,' is always followed by 'And there was so little of it!'" My favorite stories were "Jesus Shaves", in which Sedaris attempts to explain American Easter holiday traditions in broken French to many foreign students (and one sadistic teacher) in his French class, and "Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities", in which Sedaris takes guitar lessons from a midget as part of his father's dream of creating a family jazz band. If you love humor that's as sublime as it is surreal, you'll love ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY. Sedaris and his book may be "a bit warped," but it just doesn't get any better than this!
Rating:
Summary: Laughed Out Loud
Review: I laughed out loud on almost every page of his book. By far the funniest novel I have ever read. The stories were touching and heartfelt and I cannot wait to read every thing else he has ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Milk-through-the-nose funny, and yet often poignant
Review: Sedaris has a real gift for language. Although according to the book, that langauge is decidedly not french. The tales that comprise the first half of the book relate his childhood and family - they're the sort of absurd family everyone has but never really talks about. They're an odd bunch, and Sedaris truly manages to make them seem larger-than-life even though you know deep-down they're no stranger than anyone else's clan. Particularly howl-inducing is the story of his youngest brother, who has mystifyingly deisgnated himself "the Rooster" and is about as far at-odds with the rest of the family as could possibly be. And yet, between the Rooster's foul language and rough manners, the sense of kinship between him and the clan's detatched patriarch si definitley conveyed in a heartfelt and stupifyingly funny manner. Also notable is the vignette "12 Moments in the Life of the Artist" which self-deprecatingly plays on Sedaris's own artistic pretension and relates his daliances with art school, sculpting, methamphetamines and most terrifyingly conceptual and performance art. An absolutely brilliant piece, he manages to skewer the whole performance art movement as well as his own silly notions of the artist lifestyle in one fell swoop. The second half of the book details his life in France and his struggles with the language. While slightly less emotionally attached than the first half of the book, it is often even funnier, with the ridiculous mangling of the french langauge, the odd things he learns to say (he studies medical french for fun), the aggressive and verbally abusive french teacher, and the difficulties with noun gender. I've read this book a dozen times already and never does it fail to send me into fits. Definitely one of my all-time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: david sedaris is LOL funny time and time again
Review: this was recommended to me by a friend and it was my first exposure to david sedaris. if you've never heard of david, you may have heard of his sister amy who plays "jerry blank" on the comedy central show, "strangers with candy." if you like her humor, you'll definitly love davids books.
i never laughed outloud so much from reading. his stories are, for the most part, nonfictional tales of his off-beat life. scattered and out of order, each chapter is an adventure in and of itself. if you're thinking of buying this book, do yourself a favor and order the other 3 as well. "holidays on ice," "barrel fever," and "naked" are just as crazy and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh Out Loud
Review: I am a huge fan of David Sedaris on public radio and when I saw his book, I knew I had to read it. I found myself bursting into laughter and having to read entire chapters out loud to my husband. Definitely a great book that makes you look for the hilarious moments in your own family.
Rating:
Summary: The Life and Times of a Greek Gay Drug Addict
Review: A friend recently lent me this book. I was delighted that he did so. I've heard of Mr. Sedaris, but, for some reason, never seemed to get around to reading his book. Having read the works of his contemporaries such as Michael Thomas Ford, Joel Perry and Bob Smith. Only Joel Perry rates as being funnier, but David Sedaris has certainly led a more interesting life. I don't know if the title stems from his attempts to overcome a childhood lisp, or his attempts to learn French, either of which are pretty funny. Mr. Sedaris' string of unusual jobs, performance art pieces, drug experiences and time in France with his boyfriend are all priceless and unique stories. Listening to an international French class attempting to explain Easter to a Muslim student is priceless, and leads to a flashback to his Greek Orthodox upbringing and memories of holidays falling later than their Catholic equivelent. Something that had frustrated me throughout my childhood. Unlike the other authors mentioned above, very little of the book is actually gay. It just goes to show you gay men can have a life outside their sexuality.
Rating:
Summary: One hell of a book
Review: Wow, this book was really funny! I start laughing in a public place and peaple look at me strange. I've never had a book this funny before. I've lent it to about 9 friends.
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