Me Talk Pretty One Day

I often do myself in before I even begin a book. This year’s selection was specifically chosen to include many authors and books which I felt, for one reason or another, I had missed out on til now. Expectations are high and frankly, although it may not seem so from the reviews I’ve given so far, I don’t wow easily with authors. I’m picky. I read a lot and have a short attention span. I’m critical and busy, so if a book doesn’t grab me early on, I move on to something else.

One of the things I’ve missed in this year's reading project has been the habit I’ve had for years of reading more than one book at a time. Usually, I have some non-fiction on the go, a classic and something lighter. I also read a fair bit of poetry and philosophy or other muse worthy selections. This split focus has made me feel in past as though I don’t read enough of what I love most – the fiction. So, I decided to try more of a one thing at a time approach.

Imagine my delight to find David Sedaris. He’s an essayist in the sardonic, irreverent, self deprecating sort of way. Like Alice Monro's (who is also on my list this year), his gems are short. Also like Alice, but in completely different ways, he’s wonderfully gifted and utterly unforgettable. I’ll get into his stuff in a second, but here’s the happy bonus to finding Sedaris. Because each essay is a story unto itself, I can move to another longer book if I choose. Like poetry, he is something I can pick up – get a quick fix of hilarity or inspiration and don’t feel so bad when I have to put the book down. Yes. That’s right. I am one of those sorry souls who miss my book when I am forced to leave it to engage in “life”. If I’m really enjoying a book, I want to finish it, see what comes next. I’ve never really gotten into short stories or essays before. That is about to change.

So now to Mr. Sedaris. I just know we are going to become good friends. Well his books and I will anyway. That said I will run out immediately to buy tickets the next time he’s in town to read his work. He’s as good in person as he is on the page I am told.

Me Talk Pretty One Day is an uproarious snort out loud funny selection of stories about David and the oddball characters that make up his life. Transported from New York to Raleigh North Carolina, there’s a fish out of water kind of feel to many of the earlier essays. His take on the speech therapist, Agent Sampson, assigned to help him get rid of his lisp while he steadfastly refuses to use the letter s is brilliant. Moving from grade school, to university where he mingles with avant garde artsies who create their pieces out of garbage while jonesing for a fix is the perfect set up for his later stories about David back in New York, working a succession of odd jobs, until he meets his boyfriend Hugh. The best stuff though, is from the period where David moves with Hugh to rural France for a while. Living in Paris, trying to learn the language and fit in, was comic gold. Throughout the book, David’s family figures prominently in his stories. Recounting his sister Amy wearing a fat suit to Christmas in response to her father’s obsession about weight and beauty had near tears streaming down my face on the subway. These few referenced snippets of Sedaris I’ve mentioned here don’t come close to describing the wildly entertaining read you’ll have when you pick up Me Talk Pretty One Day. His other books, Barrel Fever and Naked are already waiting for me on my bookshelf. But what are you waiting for? Go. Go now. Read him!