David Sedaris

Even though I said I would document books I read this past year since I became a librarian, which is not a long period of time, I cannot list off the top of my head what I have read. When I remember I must record it immediatley or loose it, which is what happened here. I read it in the fall of '08.

Sedaris is a very entertaining writer. I have only read Me Talk Pretty One Day but I think all his stuff is similar. He writes stories from his own life, everyday happenings that are not unlike what most of us experience but somehow in the hands of a skilled author end up being rather amusing. On his homepage, it mentions that he: "lifts the corner of everyday life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface." His stories are referred to by others as essays, which I guess differentiate his political and social commentary from his growing up and family stories.


He is a little like Garrison Keelor or Stuart McLean in that tradition of story telling although considerably more caustic and without the type of radio show that make Keelor and McLean such identifiable personnas such as they are in 'The Prairie Home Companion' and 'The Vinyl Cafe,' respectively. However Sedaris is a recognisable public figure due to his many appearences on TV and radio talk shows, items on Youtube.com and work for the NY Times (he became kind of famous on the NPR).

This is certainly adult reading, not for content but for style; I feel you'll relate better with more life experience. I think Me Talk Pretty One Day is a good intro to Sedaris because it is an interesting and alternative style of an autobiography, full of charm, wit, and humour.

CMB

Wow, I remembered how to 'insert link' and went a little link crazy in this one!