Friday, June 11, 2004
JUST FINISHED: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. A few people who have a feel for my online presence have said I should read something by David Sedaris, so when I found a second-hand copy a few weeks ago, I decided to roll with it.
I knew going into this volume that David Sedaris was the brother of Amy, lead of the late and lamented Strangers With Candy, and that he frequently contributes to public radio's This American Life, one of the best shows currently running in any medium. Nobody bothered to tell me that Sedaris was raised in North Carolina (although Raleigh is developed to the point that it doesn't feel entirely NC, like my neck of the red), which was only one of the pleasant surprises I got from the book.
The book is divided into two parts, the first being mostly reminiscences of his childhood and early adulthood, and there's a lot to recognize here. As a former art major, I can appreciate his flirtation with performance art, if not the substance abuse that led to it: "I just heated up a skillet of plastic soldiers, poured a milkshake over my head, and called it a night." The second part of the book is concerned with Sedaris' relocation to France, his struggles with learning the language, and experiences as an American abroad. In spite of what he says about himself, Sedaris is a bright, observant guy who knows how to spin the raw materials of his life into excruciatingly funny pieces which read at a brisk pace.
Like they used to say on the radio, "You'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll fall asleep." Sedaris will get my tiny money again.
I knew going into this volume that David Sedaris was the brother of Amy, lead of the late and lamented Strangers With Candy, and that he frequently contributes to public radio's This American Life, one of the best shows currently running in any medium. Nobody bothered to tell me that Sedaris was raised in North Carolina (although Raleigh is developed to the point that it doesn't feel entirely NC, like my neck of the red), which was only one of the pleasant surprises I got from the book.
The book is divided into two parts, the first being mostly reminiscences of his childhood and early adulthood, and there's a lot to recognize here. As a former art major, I can appreciate his flirtation with performance art, if not the substance abuse that led to it: "I just heated up a skillet of plastic soldiers, poured a milkshake over my head, and called it a night." The second part of the book is concerned with Sedaris' relocation to France, his struggles with learning the language, and experiences as an American abroad. In spite of what he says about himself, Sedaris is a bright, observant guy who knows how to spin the raw materials of his life into excruciatingly funny pieces which read at a brisk pace.
Like they used to say on the radio, "You'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll fall asleep." Sedaris will get my tiny money again.
|| Eric 12:20 AM#
