Sedaris, David - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Tue, Feb. 14th, 2006 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI read this by popular request. I've never read any David Sedaris before, though I've heard many good things of him and seen his books be wildly popular back when I worked at the used bookstore.
The book is mostly a collection of essays on Sedaris' childhood and his family; he manages to be poignant and funny about growing up gay with a father who was horrified by that. I liked how he slipped from his childhood to the present, especially since these essays were written after he'd already become a fairly popular author (I think). There's a particular piece in there in which his sister asks him if he's going to put certain incidents in his book, and he realizes that he's been hanging around for writing fodder instead of listening.
I am being lazy in summarizing, which isn't quite fair. It's a good book. It's also very funny. I just didn't find it that funny when I was reading it, but I think that may have been because I was reading it while horrifically jet-lagged and homesick, with the added bonus of having stayed up till 1 in the airport for a red-eye.
I also find that while I find these books intellectually funny on the first read, they never quite hit me as funny until I reread them. I liked the book, but sort of distantly and vaguely. I think I'll like this one much better the second time around.
The book is mostly a collection of essays on Sedaris' childhood and his family; he manages to be poignant and funny about growing up gay with a father who was horrified by that. I liked how he slipped from his childhood to the present, especially since these essays were written after he'd already become a fairly popular author (I think). There's a particular piece in there in which his sister asks him if he's going to put certain incidents in his book, and he realizes that he's been hanging around for writing fodder instead of listening.
I am being lazy in summarizing, which isn't quite fair. It's a good book. It's also very funny. I just didn't find it that funny when I was reading it, but I think that may have been because I was reading it while horrifically jet-lagged and homesick, with the added bonus of having stayed up till 1 in the airport for a red-eye.
I also find that while I find these books intellectually funny on the first read, they never quite hit me as funny until I reread them. I liked the book, but sort of distantly and vaguely. I think I'll like this one much better the second time around.
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Wed, Feb. 15th, 2006 06:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Feb. 15th, 2006 07:02 pm (UTC)TAL is a great show, and you can stream most of the episodes for free; if you want to download them somewhere you have to buy them through Audible.com. I recommend Act 1 of the show "Fiasco (http://207.70.82.73/pages/descriptions/97/61.html)," which has the funniest story EVAR of a doomed production of Peter Pan.