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Summary: A dark, sardonic, distinctive, and pleasantly warped
Review: David Sedaris's humor clearly appeals to a distinctive taste. Some times it is warped bordering on creepy (particularly in "Holidays on Ice"), but often his wry observations are very poignant. What I particularly appreciate is his ability to laugh at himself. He may poke fun at any and all, but he also doesn't take himself seriously.Having really enjoyed "Naked" I was very disappointed by the critical reviews in the press for "Me Talk Pretty One Day". Generally, reviewers flayed him for being too caustic and harshly criticizing Americans abroad now that he is an ex-pat. I am glad that I finally overcame my reluctance and read this book. I did not find "Me Talk Pretty" at all divergent from his other works; in fact it is equally satisfyiing. His wit here is consistently savage about the ignorant and rude, with an endearing appreciation of the quotidian and absurd. He continues to pugnaciously defend his right to an unhealthy habits, including tobacco and alcohol, and foods of dubious nutrition. Of course, appreciating Sedaris the reader has to recognize that he recognizes what is wrong and self destructive about these things and that he is mocking himself. Contrary to the prevailing opinion of the reviews (did they read the book or each other?) I didn't detect any sense that he has become a Francophile. In fact, his French hiatus has served as a foil that has enhanced his perspective on the United States, and has made his observations more insightful and he seems, in his own twisted way, to be more appreciative of many things here. I didn't enjoy every one of the essays; however, I didn't expect to either. Overall I did enjoy the collection, and while occasionally a bit too odd, I do find Sedaris's distinctive, absurd, and mostly sage humor quite refreshing.
Rating: 
Summary: The funniest book I've ever read!
Review: David Sedaris has a wonderful talent of articulating his life throughout his novel. I normally don't laugh out loud at books, but in one chapter, I was laughing until tears were streaming down my face.
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Summary: I laughed 'til I cried
Review: I have read books, the way some people devour bags of potato chips, all of my life. In my younger, more pretentious days, I thought a book had to be depressing to be smart: Sartre's No Exit, Camus' The Stranger, Kafka's Metamorphosis, stepping stones to the masochism of reading feminist tracts, spiraling ever downward to the study of law and theology. Then a friend lent me a copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day., I've paid my dues in France and laughed like a madwoman at Mr. Sedaris' take on the language conundrum. I personally like myself and everyone else better when I'm in France for the reason he so brilliantly illustrates: I don't know enough French to understand when they're being nasty and I lack the vocabularly to wallow in my own customary cynicisms. In the chapter "Remembering My CHildhood on the Continent of Africa", the bit about the field trip to the Ethiopian slaughterhouse had me punching my fists into the couch pillows in a futile effort to stop laughing. Ditto, for his rant about eco-capitalism. I marked a half-dozen pages in a twenty-minute read so I could call friends and give them a laugh. Hot damn!
Rating:
Summary: He's the man...
Review: Sedaris does it again. From tales of learning French to some surprisingly poignant pieces, Sedaris's newest book is filled with the same funny, often venomous assaults on the masses. It's not as good as Barrel Fever, but it's still funnier than anything else out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Very Funny
Review: A good book for easy reading, what you might want on a long day of traveling, for example. Read "The Rooster" before you buy. This is the best of the essays and captures his style pretty well. If you really like it, then maybe it's for you but like I said the essays won't get better than that. Not a laugh out loud book, in my experience, it made me smile a few times but it's not that funny.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty funny
Review: Gets quite a chuckle out of me - occasionally I come across a paragraph in his book that I don't expect, and just tears me up laughing!
Rating: 
Summary: Relaxation and a Good Read
Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day is a quick and easy read that is best taken in small bites. Sedaris' style lends itself to quick reading, but that doesn't mean you should necessarily read the entire book in one sitting. The best short bites the book has to offer are the first essay about Sedaris' speech impediment and the essays in the back which deal with his adjustment to France and his attempt to learn French. Feel free to skip the essays about his brief life as an artist and as a teacher. They are both unsettling in that they make one pity the author, and they are not as entertaining as they could be.
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Summary: Funny, But....
Review: David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day is a very amusing collection of essays that I enjoyed, so long as I read them one or two at a time. I personally found, after reading more than that, that Sedaris's narcissism started getting on my nerves. That being said, these essays are very amusing, some more than others of course. A good portion of them concern his move to France, although many focus on his family. Sedaris story telling style relies heavily on the humorous exaggeration, and for the most part it works. Again though, after too many essays, it may grate on your nerves. This book is a fun read, definitely nontaxing (for instance, I was easily able to read these essays in a moving car (I wasn't driving)). Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Me laugh long time
Review: There's something to be said for mindless novels now and then. 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' will not be a contendor for the next Pulitzer Prize due to it's ground breaking literary contention, but it will make you laugh for a little while. The novel and it's author display an amazingly eccentric ability for not ALWAYS taking life so seriously. Through this collection of short essays, David Sedaris (often heard on NPR) takes us through his malfunctioned childhood in North Carolina, his drug induced and somewhat irresponsible twenties to his days of living in New York and Paris in his early and late thirties. Tons of quaint anecdotes throughout his life are comprised to make this quirky (and sometimes humurously perverse) story, it is an excellent and refreshing break from the more serious novles, and most certainly deserves it's place on the NY Times Best seller list. Although not my normal stlye of reading, I would certainly reccomend this novel to anyone. It's short, quick, easy to read, plus you get the bonus of a non-fiction reading choice that reads like a soap opera. Some may find it a little idiotic, but the truth is that Sedaris thinks the same zany many of us do, we just don't admit it as openly. It's quite a refreshing change of pace during such serious times and will cause the reader to remember how much fun it is to laugh at your self once in a while.
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Summary: Alchoholics and Speach Impetiments - Thats Funny
Review: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is a compliation of short stories, and memories written by David Sedaris. Beginning at the age of 5, the book follow's his life up until the present. Written with sarcastically dry humor and wit, every chapter is more riduclous and hilarious than the last. I had been imatiantly awaiting a follow-up on "Naked," which consisits of the same ideas and memories as this book. I didn't think anything could top "Naked," but this one is way up there.
The first chapter is about Sedaris' speach impetiments when he was a child, and his first cruel, cruel, speech therapist, who, in his own words " Would be much happier giving random root canals to the school girls in Africa than actually doing her job." Such topics are the basis of every chapter; they range from his crazy parents and siblings to the midget guitar teacher his father hired for him when he was 12.
Though there are several reasons why I enjoyed this book, the main one would have to be Sedaris' "real life" writing style. His childhood growing up sounded like hell; his mother was an alchoholic, he didn't have any friends and what not, but somhow, his writing style and techniques make it all hilarious. I think if anyone else wrote about this life, it would have sounded depressing and scary.
So, if you're feeling sorry for yourself, dealing with a mid-life crisis, or just bored, you should definatly read this book.
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