Me Talk Pretty One Day
Posted by Lanea on Monday, September 25th, 2006
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
I found David Sedaris’s work years ago through This American Life, the best radio show ever. His speaking voice is very distinctive, but his Billie Holiday impersonation is what made me fall for him as a performer. Also, it helps that Sedaris is ridiculously funny and apparently free of any sort of boundaries or filtering.
This book is a series of autobiographical essays. All are humorous on some level, but a few are truly intimate and touching. Sedaris uses his family as fodder for his stories, but he reveals far more about himself than he does about any of them. What I found particularly impressive is Sedaris’s ability to write about his failures so openly. He doesn’t extol the virtues of his favorite recovery method. He doesn’t depict himself as a hero for overcoming this or that. He just says what happened. I wish more people could view their own lives so clearly.
Filed in Books | 2 responses so far
rachelon 27 Sep 2006 at 1:44 pm 1This is my favorite of his books. (Though I listen to all of his stuff on audio, for reasons you mention). Picka Pocketoni is worth the price of admission alone. If for no other reason than the wonderful throwaway of an opening line having to do with being on the train because he and Hugh “hoped to acquire a good deal of burlap.” !!!
Beanmamaon 29 Sep 2006 at 11:00 am 2I have always loved David Sedaris (and This American Life.) And I remember his Billie Holiday impression! I love a man that can make me laugh and cry within 2 minutes.