Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Rating:
Summary: Hard Life, Humourous Look At It
Review: <br />Thought the book tells of a difficult childhood, he does so with a bit of humor. Though you feel some of the pain in this autobiography, you don't have the chance to feel all of the pain. The reflections on himself are witty. A brilliant book to read! <br /><br />Also recommended: Other memoirs to read include: Father Joe and Nightmares Echo **Great season for great autobiographies! <br />

Rating:
Summary: Bettah than Evuh
Review: I know people may not agree, but I found this book to be the best one yet. I know it isn't as light and fluffy or as sitcom-ish as the previous ones, but I felt there's more gravitas here. I suspected there was a certain amount of filler in Naked, Me Talk...etc. If this one veers off slightly, I think that's because the author just effortlessly veers off also.

What I like most about this book is that it's the most intelligent and least "goofy". "Full House" is the most subversive story I have EVER read! And I MEAN this. And I still busted out laughing. "The Girl Next Door" is chilling, scarier than that movie "The Ring." His essay on his sister Tiffany is alarming. Is he writing this in case something unpleasant happens with her or is it just another family portrait? He's too smart to just let this out there. He also has an uncanny knack for picking out the obscure: parrots. I'd never given much thought before to birds that can repeat words, but he's picked up on it. Classic David.

Is the writing really THAT painstaking? What I think happened is that he has been studying French for so long that he has become finer with his use of words and pays more attention to structure and meaning. You can't write one essay after the next without being able to KNOW how to do this. I suspect this is all rather easy for him.

Everyone seems to be whining about how "sad" it is. I think this is somewhat homophobic. Before he would only politely mention Hugh, like he was some whimsical pet; now there are more chapters and insights into their relationship. Where's the Norman Rockwell painting that depicts two men in a gay adult relationship that he can somehow refer to? But, honestly, there is something THERE though. You somehow suspect he's going to hell for some reason or is it just getting older or is it just that he's a literary celebrity in a foreign culture when his schtick is all about upper-middle WASP/Greek kitsch, basically amusing Americana. I know I shouldn't say this, but there seems to be some kind of void that he's been sucked into. You sense it as the book progresses. He's achieved mainstream acceptance, but is he holding himself back? Is he allowing himself to get too gay or political? Does he have his own internalized homophobia that's become a self fulfilling prophecy for his adult relationship or is the relationship just doomed in and of itself? I still like reading all this more than the other fluff because it's unflinching.

It's fun to review a book that's number 6 on the bestseller list (there, I've had my David Sedaris moment).

Rating:
Summary: Less Funny - More Mature
Review: Though I found 'Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim' to be funny, I did not find myself to be laughing out loud as much when reading Sedaris' earlier works. It's not that the writing is worse, it's actually better.

I had read a number of these essays in other pieces (i.e. New Yorker, etc), so there was some familiarity with this work. For all of his painfully funny stories, he shows more depth to his work.

Though he never says it outright, he clearly misses and identifies with his mother ("Being mocked by the untalented was easy to brush off, but my mother was really good at imitating people.")and comes slightly closer to being his father. In the essay "Put A Lid On It" I found it a poignant moment he has with his sister who states about the entire family, "Don't you get it? I don't *like* you people."

But I do. I love his family stories. Especially the ones that include his mother or another sister, Amy (which there are none in this book) and Rooster, his brother.

The book is about half as long as I would like it, but you take what you can get.