Me Talk Pretty One Day: Amazon.de: David Sedaris: Englische Bücher

Amazon.co.uk

David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of Santaland Diaries a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's department store. Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path and his move with his lover to France.

Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves", he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God", says one. "Then he be die one day on two... morsels of... lumber", says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox man whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mother and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: "To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests".

Every glimpse we get of Sedaris's family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist ("for whom the word pen had two syllables") by cleverly avoiding all words with "s" sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn't share his obsession with breasts, and sings "Light My Fire" all wrong--"as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match". As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign "guessays" on what would happen in the next day's episode. It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. --Tim Appelo -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verf�gbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Amazon.com

David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of "SantaLand Diaries," a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's. (It's in two separate collections, both worth owning, Barrel Fever and the Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice.) Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves," he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God," says one. "Then he be die one day on two... morsels of... lumber," says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox guy whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mom and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: "To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests."

Every glimpse we get of Sedaris's family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist ("for whom the word pen had two syllables") by cleverly avoiding all words with s sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn't share his obsession with breasts, and sings "Light My Fire" all wrong--"as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match." As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign "guessays" on what would happen in the next day's episode.

It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. The only possible reason not to read this book is if you'd rather hear the author's intrinsically funny speaking voice narrating his story. In that case, get Me Talk Pretty One Day on audio. --Tim Appelo -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

Alle Produktbeschreibungen

Kundenrezensionen

4.3 von 5 Sternen

Kundenrezension verfassen

Die hilfreichsten Kundenrezensionen

5 von 5 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

Plain hilarious 19. Januar 2012

Von John T C

Format:Taschenbuch

Great opening chapter to what is an awesome story all the way to the end. This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. The odd characters made it all the more funny. Being the first Sedaris book I have read, I am up and ready for more of his stories. He is a witty and humorous writer and reminds me of the funny book The Usurper and Other Stories.The story flows smoothly, backed by a rich choice of words, deep knowledge and excellent descriptions. I am glad I read this book.

Kommentar |

War diese Rezension f�r Sie hilfreich?

Nein

8 von 9 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

Amusing stories, many hits, some misses. 25. Juli 2000

Von Jayson

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

I realize that David Sedaris books are supposed to be 'really' funny, and I consider myself to have a great sense of humor, but overall I found 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' amusing at best. In this best selling book, the reader is exposed to a collection of short stories that take on a humorous spin of mundane topics, or everyday subjects that the Sedaris family has placed their own 'unique and warped' spin on.

Though most stories were entertaining, I often asked that though many of these snippets of Mr. Sedaris's life were plausible, some seem to be somewhat exaggerated or embellished. Perhaps that is the authors attempt to really try to make something funny, which ordinarily isn't. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some funny stories. The book is worth it's price in three or four of these snapshots: "I'll eat what he's wearing", "Big Boy", and the one that had me rolling on the floor crying to catch my breath "You can't kill the Rooster." This last story about his younger brother is movie material!

The collection overall covers a wide variety of subjects, however, there seem to be two recurring theme's that I observed. First, a decent portion of the book is devoted to his experiences living in France. Though one can make the argument that this book is about his life and it's funny moments, and he did actually live in France; for someone who has never been there to identify French absurdity I found myself saying "Oh, another story France, again". The redeeming aspect for me here was the story about learning French with a bunch of students (characters in their own right), taught by a dictatorial and stereotypical rude French teacher.

Secondly, the author seems to have what I would consider some issues of reservation of his life and choices. Autobiographical in nature, the stories often reflect the author's acknowledgement of his low self-worth. He often talks about how many deplorable jobs he has had, how cheap his father is, how smart he isn't, his life with an alcoholic mother, how he got mixed up into drugs and just shuffled through life. However, he takes these normally depressing attributes and attempts to shroud them in humor, hoping that the reader can look past these events on the surface and praise Mr. Sedaris for his wit. Though this does work at times, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel sorry for him at times.

I hope I am not giving an impression that this is a bad book. It is not. It is funny and an easy read. But it was more 'amusing' than 'hilarious' in which most people would expect.

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

Funny 19. September 2000

Von Maurice Williams

I read this book based on the recommendation of a friend and enjoyed it tremendously. What an admirable trait it is to be able to laugh at one's self. Sedaris even managed to shed some worldly insight with this autobiographical piece. Very well written and funny. I particularly enjoyed his experience with the Americans and the train ride in Paris. I had a similar experience and reading about it was brought back great memories and laughter. This is my first read by Sedaris but I'm sure it won't be the last. Relax and enjoy it.