ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY (HACHETTE ESSENTIALS)
Part of Hachette's Essentials series, which gathers fiction and non-fiction titles published since 1950 that have earned their place as modern classics, this collection of essays from David Sedaris is a genuine treat. Witty, odd, and unexpectedly moving in places, it's the kind of book you'll find yourself reading aloud to whoever's nearest. A relocation from New York to Paris gives Sedaris plenty of raw material. The title essay follows his painful, frequently mortifying attempts to learn French under a teacher whose motivational style runs to cheerful cruelty, including the memorable observation that every day in his company feels like undergoing a caesarean section. It's absurd, it's recognisable, and it's very, very funny. His family provides equal inspiration. A portrait of his brother, who communicates almost exclusively in hip-hop slang to the complete bafflement of their ageing father, is both affectionate and sharply observed. Sedaris also turns his eye on the smaller irritations of modern life, from restaurant dishes stacked into architectural nonsense to cashiers sporting fingernails of impractical length. His fury is precise, his timing impeccable. Readers have described the book as getting better with every chapter, with more than a few admitting they laughed until they cried. Some have even wondered, slightly reproachfully, why it took them so long to find him. Honestly, that's fair.
- Author: David Sedaris
- Publisher: Abacus
- Genre: Literary Fiction
- ISBN: 978-0349143941
- Pages: 288 pages