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Summary: Funny but not my favorite Sedaris collection.....
Review: ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY is another collection featuring David Sedaris' especially mordant and hilarious sense of humor. He muses on the most ordinary events, but gives us a unique perspective. My two favorite stories concern his childhood guitar lessons and his sojourn with his French boyfriend renovating a house in the French countryside. While reading David Sedaris is entertaining in itself, nothing compares to HEARING him tell his stories on audiotape or CD. His humor comes through so much more vividly through his voice and not the printed word. Do yourself a favor and pick up an audio copy even if you've read the book. The experience is greatly enhanced. I know because I first encountered his work from listening to the audio version of NAKED, which is to this day my absolute Sedaris favorite!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing On Several Counts
Review: I bought this book because I wanted to get an overview of contemporary Paris and the title came up when I searched for something on that subject. Reading this to learn about Paris is like reading War and Peace to learn about military uniforms. There isn't much and what there is is trivial at best. Beyond that, Sedaris is a Dave Barry wannabe with anecdotes that may stimulate laughter in conversation but usually "clunk" in writing. His chapter about his brother "Rooster" who has a twenty word vocabulary, almost entirely profane, is painful, even to this six year army veteran from a "line" company.
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Summary: It's Not Naked
Review: David had a brilliantly funny one with Naked, I laughed, I loved. But I was disappointed with Me Talk Pretty One Day, the reviews hyped it up to be this extraordinary passage of life abroad, but it took forever to get abroad. It was not as funny as Naked and I expected way too much.
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Summary: Humanity as seen through slightly jaundiced eyes
Review: David Sedaris is a humorist who writes essays on the human condition - his specifically and in general. He strikes me as a curmudgeon-in-training, who, after further aging, will qualify for the closing act on a very popular and long running TV newsmagazine broadcast on Sunday evenings. ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY is a series of 28 essays spanning the author's childhood to the present. The book's title is also that of one of the chapters, in which he relates the experience of learning French in Paris under the tutelage of a xenophobic Frenchwoman whose style relies heavily on the liberal application of humiliation and abuse. Most of the essays succeeded at making me laugh - certainly not in guffaws, but at least amused snorts. A few didn't. The subjects of some of the more successful included: being mistaken for a local pickpocket on the Paris Métro by two American tourists, describing American idiosyncrasies as perceived by foreigners, doing New York Times crossword puzzles, describing the concept of Easter to a Muslim, and showing two friends from North Carolina around New York City. For me, the funniest selection was "Big Boy", which, unfortunately, was pure bathroom humor that can't be described here. (Hey, I never claimed to have elevated tastes!) David's brand of raillery won't appeal to everyone. While always perceptive, it often is, like Mark Twain's, tongue-in-cheek. The following three examples will serve to illustrate. They concern, respectively: American nouveau cuisine, speaking "French" in France, and politically correct water conservation. "The patty melt has been pushed aside in favor of the herb-encrusted medallions of baby artichoke hearts, which never leave me thinking, Oh, right, those! I wonder if they're as good as the ones my mom used to make." "The second, less complicated form of French amounts to screaming English at the top of your lungs, much the same way you'd shout at a deaf person or the dog you thought you could train to stay off the sofa... Easy French is rooted in the premise that, if properly packed, the rest of the world could fit within the confines of Reno, Nevada." "The card (in the hotel bathroom) reported the amount of water used every year in hotel laundry rooms and suggested that, in having my sheets and towels changed on a daily basis, I was taking this precious water directly from the cupped hands of a dehydrated child. I noticed there was no similar plea encouraging me to conserve the hot water that came with my fifteen-dollar pot of room-service tea, but that apparently was a different kind of water." You know, I like this guy.
Rating: 
Summary: A Laugh and a Tear
Review: As with almost everything Sedaris writes, each of the autobiographical stories in One Day Me Talk Pretty will cause you to laugh out loud, but one story in particular will cause you to go from laughter to tears. "The Youth in Asia" is one of the most touching stories I have read in years. Sedaris writes about his family's pets -- how attached they got to them, how they treated them like humans and how sad they were to see them go. Sedaris uses delightful descriptions of the cats and dogs who shared his family life to capture the subject matter perfectly. As I began reading this story, enjoying Sedaris' usual humor, I was not prepared for how this story would affect me for some time after I read it. I highly recommend this book. Read "The Youth in Asia" first!
Rating:
Summary: insanely delightful
Review: This latest book by David Sedaris is a scream. One of the wittiest & humorous writers of our time. A must read.
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Summary: haven't finished it, but HAD to write a review!!!!!
Review: As I mentioned, I haven't finished the book yet!! I don't need to, to write a review!! this book is hilarious!! I was recommended David Sedaris by a friend who was reading Naked, and we have taken turns reading chapters out loud to each other. I would be at work reading to myself, and my boss had to ask me what was making me crack up so much!!! I don't normally laugh out loud when reading a book, but he is great!! not only is he funny, he writes the words in a way that you can hear his voice (even if you have never heard him speak before) .. my favorite so far is the essay about his french class! I highly recommend this book!
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Summary: David Has Done It Again...
Review: As a close follower of David's work, I was thrilled to hear he had another tape out. I have listened to all of his others and never tire of his humor. This tape is centered more around David and his partner, Hugh, and their lives in New York and Paris. I prefer the stories about his family, but these are satisfying as well. Highly recommend....
Rating:
Summary: Laugh til you cry funny
Review: Between him and his sister Amy, this has to be one of the funniest families ever. Part of the reason I bought the book was in the hopes to discover what their parents did to make them so funny. But it seems after reading it that it has to do more with Genetic luck than any environmental circumstances. Oh well. My parental hopes aside, this is so funny. I couldn't read it at night because I would wake my wife up with my laughter. The essay on his brother is worth the price of the book alone. People here seem to have a higher opinion of Naked, so if it's better than this, which would suprise me, I can't wait to read it.
Rating:
Summary: "Laugh out loud" - funny
Review: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is a series of short stories about David Sedaris. His childhood, his different jobs, his family and - my favorite- when he moved to France, and tried to learn French. I love the story of his childhood, how he due to his lisp becomes a kid with an outstanding vocabulary (to avoid words starting with "s"), the story of his artistic career, and also his brother - "The rooster". But his story about moving to France and trying to learn French is amongst the absolute best. I can perfectly well relate to his frustration trying to learn another language. I have done something quite similar, I went to Ecuador to study Spanish with only 7 words in my vocabulary (the numbers 1-4, thank you, please and Merry Christmas) so I found those chapters absolute hilarious. My favourite is when he is having trouble with singular/plural and to circumvent this he always buys more than one, no matter what it is. His boyfriend is getting upset about this and I love Sedaris' comment "Just wait until he sees the *CD-players* I have bought for his birthday"... I have not read many books that have made me laugh as much as this one has. To my surprise, Sedaris and his story kept me completely hooked for the 270 pages. This book makes you laugh - laugh out loud!
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