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Summary: Caution: May cause incontinence
Review: Can't say enough; laughed until I peed, and tears were streaming down my face. There are no words for the brilliance that is David Sedaris.
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Summary: Paris through Audio Books
Review: This is one of the few books I've read that actually had me laughing out loud. His trouble with the gender of french words is classic, anyone who has learned a new language will relate. Not surprisingly my favorite chapter is about his brother, The Rooster. A North Carolina bred man who clings on to his Gangsta Rap roots with every word he utters...sheer brilliance. Rivaling in hilarity is his tour of Paris listening to an Audio book translating french medical terms. A fine way to unassumingly listen to a walkman for some, a great way to crack me up on the subway.
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Summary: Hilarial (No, that's not a word.)
Review: I'd never heard of David Sedaris before and I bought the book primarily because a favorite teacher of mine was reading it and enjoyed it (thank you, Ms. Knight!) It's fantastic. His humor is right on the mark, his satire is wildly funny, and he catapults you into a meaningless existance - his own life. (That was a joke.) Comparable in humor to Eddie Izzard, cleverness abounding crazily - David Sedaris is amazingly (I am not going to say "gifted") bestowed with a humor and reach far beyond his self-depracted IQ. He begins the story talking about the trials of his lisp and the general consensus that awaits such a boy, and ends it on a clever note with a hilarial account of his father's stash 'n spoil eating habits. Not for the faint of heart, Me Talk Pretty One Day is a glorious revelation of silly, nonsensical tales of someone too funny for his own good. Recommending this book isn't enough - I encourage it for anyone not too stuffed by morals. ;)
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Summary: the funniest book EVER
Review: Don't read this book in public or people will think you're crazy. I laughed so hard when I read "Jesus Shaves" (the story of Easter told by beginning French students) that I almost went into spasms. The entire book is ragingly funny, but the best parts are about how to get along in France when you don't speak French. Read Naked first, then this book.
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Summary: Very amusing
Review: Mostly a collection of short stories that build upon one another, David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day is a refreshing break from the novel format. I took this in with me to the gym to keep me company as I worked out on the treadmill and found myself laughing out loud. It only took me a few work outs to finish, and made the time pass easily. Sedaris truly has a caustic wit. The rest of his books are next on my list.
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Summary: Will keep you laughing from start to finish
Review: If you need to get away from the insanity happening in today's world...this book is for you. It will provide a haven of humor. Found this to be so enjoyable that I caught myself laughing out loud several times. The book is composed of short vignettes that recount Mr. Sedaris's life from child to adulthood. Everyone has childhood experiences that we would like to forget, as well as relatives that make us wonder if we're really adopted. Mr. Sedaris capitalizes on the quirkiness of both realms with his unique observations and dry wit. I also read two of his other books "Holidays on Ice" a great book to read this time of the year with the holiday just around the corner. It was another laugh-fest; and "Naked" which out of three, has some good stories but isn't as good as "Holidays on Ice" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day". I hope that Mr. Sedaris keeps the books coming...am looking forward to his next one!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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