Me Talk Pretty One Day
by David Sedaris
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Book Reviews of Me Talk Pretty One Day
Book Review: A little disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
Let's start out with the good things about this book. Each chapter can be a story unto itself, so its an easy book to pick up for a few minutes and put down again when you get busy. You don't feel like you're stopping in the middle of the good part. David is a great writer. He's not the most eloquent or original writer on the planet, but he's not a big idiot either. The book is a personal account, so the reader really feels like she gets a personal experience. The parts that are funny, are really funny, especially if you are a fan of sarcasm, which I am.
The bad part, however, is bad enough to be a big disappointment. For those of you who don't know already, the author is gay. Big deal - no one cares. Just like no one cares that I'm straight. As long as its well written and entertaining, I could care less. But when the author makes it a point to remind us of his sexual orientation in every chapter, it makes the book difficult to relate to unless you're gay or maybe grew up with a gay sibling. Since neither of those scenarios pertain to me personally, it was difficult for me to really get into the stories in this book with constant references to the author's sexuality - just like I imagine he would get bored reading a story sprinkled with references to my sexuality. Sexual orientation wasn't supposed to be the point of the book, but I think it turned out to be a strong theme throughout.
I wish the editor would have told David that he is funny enough, his stories are original enough and his writing is entertaining enough that he didn't need to make darn sure the reader was clear on the author's sexuality. I think if the homosexual references were fewer, I would have been much happier with this piece of work.
Book Review: What's All the Fuss About?
Summary: 3 Stars
David Sedaris is a funny man. But he's not the "funniest man in America" as he has often been billed during his recent speaking tour. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is humorous, but not "laugh-out-loud funny."
The majority of problems are with the stories dealing with his family. His family members are indeed quirky, but the stories he tells are you-had-to-be-there stories. I think my siblings and parents are hilarious too, but I'm humble enough to realize that anyone who didn't grow up in our household does not find our childhood anecdotes nearly as amusing as those of us who were there.
This book improves during part "deux," wherein Sedaris sticks for the most part to describing his experiences as an American living in France. It is in these stories/essays that Sedaris's true gift shines through: he has quite a talent for pointing out the absurd in society. Yet, entertaining as they were, not even these stories are ones I would consider "laugh-out-loud funny." I suppose I would have liked this book better had the blurbs from reviews featured on the cover not oversold Sedaris's comedic talents.
All in all, this book is entertaining when Sedaris is shining a light on society's foibles. When he turns that light on himself and his own neuroses, things begin to wear thin; and when he begins to speak of his family, the book is unremarkable at best, and, more often than not, completely unentertaining.
Again, I probably would have liked it better had my expectations not been set so high.
"River Teeth" by David James Duncan is in this same vein, but much, much better.
If you just want to laugh, anything by Dave Barry is sure to hit the spot.
Book Review: WONDERFUL HUMOR, SOME LAUGH OUT LOUD STORIES
Summary: 4 Stars
i have really come to appreciate the type of humor i find in david sedaris books. he really has a way of saying a phrase that is completely hilarious but if he said it in a conversation it would really sound matter of fact. i love the way that he puts his thoughts down on paper it almost resembles a stream of consciousness type of style. i also admire the way he sees people, and i think that i relate well to the writing because i often see people in the same way he does. i dont feel like it is a dislike for all people, but rather a questioning of how do some of the people of this world continue living from day to day. the writing style is excellent and very readable. his stories are all humorous and it is quite interesting to view his world for a while because there are some people that could only dream to live a life as interesting as his. like always there is the same interesting mix of characters, and by characters i mean his family. the last story of the book about his father and the rotten food is quite amusing. the second to the last story is also very funny but with an underlying serious tone to it. the seriousness involves the task of kicking destructive habits and the funny part is how sedaris pretends to be other people with grand accomplishments. finally, the funniest story i found was the first in the book, it deals with his childhood problem of a lisp and his multiple trials with his speech therapist. the links he went to in order to avoid the letter s are very inventive and amusing. this is a very solid book and worth the read as is all of his other works. always approach these books with an open mind in order to really enjoy and when you do you are sure to have a good time.Book Review: An amusing memoir
Summary: 4 Stars
As much as I'm a fan of biographies - particularly historical ones - I've never been really enamored of autobiographies. Generally, they are too self-serving, which is to be expected: you can hardly be really objective when writing about yourself. Indeed, David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day is self-serving, but at least it's not in the standard way. Instead of being the hero of his book, Sedaris is often the lead buffoon.
Of course, that is to be expected. This is really a collection of semi-autobiographical essays which often does obvious fact-bending to get some good humor. Does the humor work? Usually, yes, and that's the key to success for a book of this nature.
Me Talk Pretty One Day is divided into two parts. The first part - titled "One" - is a series of essays about Sedaris's life in the United States, coping with speech therapists (due to a lisp), drugs and teaching. The second part - "Deux" - deals with life in France, where Sedaris goes with his lover (it is no secret that Sedaris is gay and he gets some humor out of this, but most of it has less to do with homosexuality as with relationships in general).
The typical problem with these sorts of books is that they are best read in small doses, maybe an essay or two at a time; otherwise, the humor begins to acquire a bit of sameness that dulls it a bit. Unfortunately, this conflicts with my cover-to-cover-and-on-to-the-next-book attitude, which may have cut into my enjoyment a little. But I still found this to be a breezy and funny read; it may not be a riot, but Me Talk Pretty One Day is good enough to get the occasional chuckle and have you at least smiling the rest of the time.
Book Review: Ah...good old David Sedaris...
Summary: 4 Stars
...reading his stories is like watching your crazy neighbors scrapping next door through a hole in the wall, and it's hard not to look away. You just think...thank God that's not my family! Like his other books, Me Talk Pretty is made up of numerous humorous (and hopefully exaggerated) anecdotes from Mr. Sedaris' recent and not-so-recent past.
In the first story, a young David hilariously attempts to outwit the Agent--actually a young female speech therapist assigned to rid him of his lisp. About halfway through the book, after self-depracating discussions of his failures as guitar student, performance artist, and creative writing teacher who pulls his lesson plans from daytime Soaps, Sedaris again broaches the topic of "talking pretty". This time, he is trying to learn French. He wants to live with his boyfriend in a tiny Normandy village, which is difficult if the only French word you know is "ashtray".
I thought the depictions of his French class and village life were the highlight of this collection, especially "Jesus Shaves" and it's discussion of Easter. When Sedaris makes the faux pas of mentioning the American tradition of the Easter Bunny, his (decidedly masochistic) French instructor corrects him: "here in France, a giant bell flies in from Rome bringing chocolate for all the boys and girls." David observes that "a bell has all the personality of a cast-iron skillet." And when a Moroccan muslim student asks about the point of Easter the other students, in their limited vocabulary, provide comic, wholly inadequate explanations.
Bottom line: extremely addicting fare from Mr. Sedaris...laugh-out-loud funny in a macabre sort of way.