Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

 

David Sedaris is so fucking funny. I feel like he'd be a total laugh to grab a beer with. But I also feel like he would probably goad you to do naughty things, to drink that extra drink. And then he'd turn around and say, "You wouldn't believe how much she drinks, it's like watching an alcoholic balloon try to self-inflate..." and you'd be like HEY, that is NOT true and also, this was all your fault, you man-bitch.

Nowhere is this more apparent than DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM, where he unleashes his inner-snark. Sometimes he's cringe, sometimes he's sadistic, but he's almost always funny. I think I actually enjoyed these essays more than ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, maybe because, to me, they felt more consistent as a whole. I especially loved the one about his aspirations to wealth via his obscenely wealthy aunt, and his hilarious house-cleaning escapade that quickly ends up turning sexual (against his expectations).

I'm currently doing a rereading project to see what holds up and what doesn't and so far, David Sedaris is hitting it out of the park. If you enjoy humorous collections of autobiographical essays, I think you'll really enjoy Sedaris's writings. He's not very PC and sometimes he says things that are actually pretty offensive, but it helps that he doesn't spare himself when unleashing his cruel wit. He lets us see him at his best-- and also, at his worst.

4.5 out of 5 stars