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| Me Talk Pretty One Day | 
 enlarge | List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.21
You Save: $6.74 (45%)
Buy New/Used from $2.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 741 reviews)
Sales Rank: 205774
Category: Book
Author: David Sedaris
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8
ASIN: B000EGF0QY
Publication Date: June 5, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A new collection from David Sedaris is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris has inspired hilarious pieces, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, about his attempts to learn French. His family is another inspiration. You Cant Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers and cashiers with 6-inch fingernails. Compared by The New Yorker to Twain and Hawthorne, Sedaris has become one of our best-loved authors.
Amazon.com Review
David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of "SantaLand Diaries," a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's. (It's in two separate collections, both worth owning, Barrel Fever and the Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice.) Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves," he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God," says one. "Then he be die one day on two... morsels of... lumber," says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox guy whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mom and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: "To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests." Every glimpse we get of Sedaris's family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist ("for whom the word pen had two syllables") by cleverly avoiding all words with s sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn't share his obsession with breasts, and sings "Light My Fire" all wrong--"as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match." As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign "guessays" on what would happen in the next day's episode. It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. The only possible reason not to read this book is if you'd rather hear the author's intrinsically funny speaking voice narrating his story. In that case, get Me Talk Pretty One Day on audio. --Tim Appelo
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| Customer Reviews: Read 736 more reviews...
 Not gripping January 9, 2009
The first chapter of this book is very good.The later chapters like the vicars egg are good in parts .I must admitt I laughed out loud at times but as the book went on I found it less and less likely to be accurate . Having learnt various foreign languages in difficult circumstances I found this chapter particularly unlikely .I finished the book as it is on my book club list but I was sorely tempted to give up two thirds of the way through . I will sadly not be reading any more books by this author .
Thank you, David Sedaris! January 6, 2009
With sardonic wit and an eye for the absurd, David Sedaris gives hyperbolic treatment and philosophical consideration to what would otherwise be a mundane life. And just when it seems that his aresenal of experiences is depleted, he invites us to witness from the perspective of his unfettered imagnination. We oblige, of course, because by now this neurotic maladroit is our friend, his fantasies of being a celebrated and sought-after hero are our own, and we are more like him than we ever dared to admit.
 Pure drivel December 29, 2008
This highly overrated book is far from being funny. Dreck and dross, that's what it is. I mean, i would have read past chapter 8 if it were at least a remotely interesting book, let alone funny. I skimmed a lot even to get there.
Out of the first eight chapters, the ones on his speech therapy sessions, guitar lessons, his years as an art school student, his dad's poor sense of humor, his trash spouting brother, putting his family pets down, a Thanksgiving dinner anecdote etc failed to entertain. Oh wait, that pretty much sums up the first 8 chapters.
The book probably belongs to a different class of humor that i can't relate to. In any case, a disappointing read.
 The David Sedaris Starter Kit December 29, 2008
One mark of a great book is when you laugh out loud alone. This book accomplishes the feat, and my main complaint is that it didn't last longer. Sedaris is an engaging presenter live, and I'd suggest watching or listening to him speak before reading the book. You'll understand the comic timing and the absurdity of some of the stories more. Highly recommended.
is there an option for ZERO stars?? December 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Horrid just about covers it - not funny, very much a waste of time. I think the title is a good clue as to the content - complete drivel. I've given a couple of his other books a glance - everyone deserves a second chance, no? Unfortunately I have found the others similarly disappointing. His little stitched-together anecdotes are weak attempts at humor that don't come off funny and only make him seem more pathetic in the telling.
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