Laugh out loud moments. A surprise read. ( )

Anderson, A. (2000). Me talk pretty one day (Book Review). Library Journal, 125(4), 95. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from Article Citation database.

Reynolds, J. (2000). Me talk pretty one day (Book Review). The New York Times Book Review, 105(23), 24. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from Article Citation database.

 

It just doesn't get any funnier than Big Boy and Jesus Shaves. ( )

I love David Sedaris, and I love lost-in-translation humor, so of course this is my favorite of his collections: David Sedaris attempting--without great success--to learn to speak French while living in France. His self-deprecating humor works especially well here, and the self-cultural-deprecation of the Ugly American who comes to France "dressed as though you've come to mow its lawns". My favorite stories are the title story, "The Youth in Asia," "See You Again Yesterday," and "Picka Pocketoni." ( )

I laughed out loud more than I have at any book in a very long time. These autobiographical essays are hilarious. They cover a lot of ground, from wacky family quirks to Sedaris's difficulties with the French language, but every one is told in the same dry tone where the absurdities almost sneak up on you. I'll definitely have to pick up some more Sedaris sometime. ( )

Another great collection of drop-dead acidly funny stories from the life of the author, a gay American male of Greek extraction who spends part of his time living in France with his boyfriend Hugh. Sedaris is so pointedly self-deprecating it almost constitutes self-abuse. He writes in an elegantly humorous style that is frequently punctuated with nuggets of pure hilarity that had me unexpectedly snorting. There is even a semi-profound passage, at the end of "I Almost Saw This Girl Get Killed". Also, after reading about her in her brother's book, I have to track down what Amy Sedaris has written. ( )

Fun read! There are some of the stories that are definitely laugh-out-loud funny! ( )

I love stories about Hugh. ( )

Sedaris constantly makes me laugh--even when I don't mean to. Because of all the times I've listened to him on TAL, I can constantly hear his voice narrating the stories in my head as I read. So funny. I love the France stories in this collection! ( )

David's impression of Billie Holliday was worth listening to the whole thing. I've read Sedaris in the past but much prefer his audiobooks. He is hysterical! ( )

His essays are always fun to read. ( )

LOVE IT! If you are having a bad day just listen to David Sadaris nail us ALL on our idiosyncrasies; put on the audiobook and laugh at his great sense of humor about human nature!!! ( )

Dave's a pretty funny guy, and this book is a good starting point to enter Sedarisland. He's dead-on in his piece on American tourists -- I've had similar experiences. I heard Dave at a reading in Berlin back in 2001, and he is really a sweet guy. He took the time to chat with everyone while signing books. He wrote in my copy: So nice to finally meet you in person! ( )

Another book recommended to me by my friend Angie. Like Magical Thinking, this is an autobiographical collection of humorous and insightful essays, however I thought this one was MUCH funnier and a much more interesting read. I normally don’t fall in love with books that have this type of structure because I’m a very plot-driven reader and I get hooked when I’m panting to know “what happens next.” This book is so good that, even without that classic plot progression and suspense, I still didn’t want to put it down. Well written, quirky, honest and very funny! Overall, a good read. ( )

David Sedaris weaves stories and anecdotes from his life together in a not-quite-chronological montage. He picks up on those little details of events that can turn an occasion, or a person, from an amusement to a hilarity, and expresses such events in wonderful prose. It was a short but incredibly amusing read throughout. ( )

I had high hopes for this book and had it recommended to me by several people. However, it fell short. The writing is solid, the subject full of potential but somehow it didn't click with me. ( )

This book definitely has it's funny parts, but there are also some cringe-worthy parts as well. David Sedaris certainly has a way with language, though. If you're easily offended, this one should be avoided. But if you have an open mind, this one might be worth a read. ( )

God is he funny! There's nothing like reading a book that you don't know too much about in a waiting room, then cracking up at just how funny it is. Just like nearly all his other books, it's great! ( )

Terrifically funny stories from a gay man who had trouble with a speech defect as a child - he says elocution made no difference. Also chronicles his attempts to learn French while living there for a period each year or permanently. Mostly short articles or stories about his childhood, family, leaving home, work experiences, adult life. Well worth reading all his others too but this hit my funny sensor the most. ( )

Hilarious! David captures the humor in the daily things that we take for granted...And expresses his views with a wit and wisdom that I really, truly loved. ( )

I had never ready anything by Sedaris, and he took awhile to grow on me, but i do admit there were times I really laughed. Good light reading. Interesting personality -- someone you'd love to visit with at a cocktail party, but not sure he'd be a great friend. ( )

I was looking forward to my first David Sedaris book after hearing so many good things...but unfortunately, I thought it was incredibly boring. There were a few funny parts, but it took me a few months to finish simply because I had to read it story by story. ( )

The book I read was Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. The first half of the book is about David’s life before he moved to France and the second half is about his life in France. David grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and moved to New York City as an adult. When he met his boyfriend Hugh he moved to Normandy, France with him. The book is written in short humorous essays about random events in his life.

David was born in New York but his father’s job forced them to move to Raleigh, North Carolina. He was raised Greek Orthodox and had six siblings. As a young adult he experimented with drugs and alcohol, and diagnosed himself with OCD which he said smoking helped him cure. His sister is Amy Sedaris who is a comedy actress and they work together writing plays in New York. David publishes many of his short stories in The New Yorker and Esquire. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album and Time magazine named him Humorist of the Year in 2001. Now he lives in France with his boyfriend Hugh but comes to the United States to promote his books. His newest book is called When You are Engulfed in Flames and will be released in 2009.

I liked that this book was broken down into short stories that you could read in one sitting. The book was very funny. Every story was different but all of them made you laugh at some point. Some of the stories were funnier than other and actually made me laugh out loud. Things that you wouldn’t normally think were funny become super funny the way he writes about them. Certain events take you by surprise and you can’t believe they actually happen to him. I didn’t like that the stories kind of jumped around in the book. It was hard to tell at what stage in his life this was all happening and sometimes it was confusing as to where the event was taking place. I think David could have done a little better of a job with guiding the reader along from event to event.

I think people who like humorous books would like this book. Me Talk Pretty One Day would be part of the humor genre. It may be a little offensive to some but it’s nothing too serious and all in good fun. Nothing in this book is serious and it is a pretty quick easy read. Some stories are a bit boring but if you keep going it gets better. Also if you don’t like one of the stories you can just skip over it and go on to the next one because none of the stories connect or tie into one another.

David has seven other books out all in the same format as Me Talk Pretty One Day. If you liked this book I would defiantly recommended reading his other books also.

More hilarious and irreverant tales from a comic legend. This time Mr Sedaris shares his views on speech therapy, life in Paris, and an assortment of odd jobs in New York and much, much more. These short stories could describe everyday events in plenty of our own lives, but they're so much funnier when this guy tells them. ( )

If you need or want to laugh out loud, rush to read this book. There are many hilarious moments, but the conversation concerning Sedaris' dad's foot problem made me cry with laughter. This is unadulterated humor. ( )