Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

A little over 2 years ago I decided I had to read a David Sedaris book after hearing Jon Stewart tell NPR that they just brought a tote bag full of David Sedaris books to a knife fight. I finally read one, spurred on by a visit from the author to Gammage Theater.

My book club read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and I was delighted by how many times it made me actually laugh out loud. What appears to the naked eye as a collection of essays is actually a brilliant telling of everyday life. I couldn't wait to discuss them with my book club but upon meeting with them I discovered only half of the group got him, the other half declaring he was too crude. I racked my brain. Which part was the crude part? "For example," one member shared, "when the stranger asked him to give him his suppository?" Ah yes, that was funny!

Thursday night 2 book club members, my friend Angi, and I went to see David Sedaris read from his new book, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, and his diary. The first three stories he told were about getting a colonoscopy, a woman who poops in her hand, and his grandmother using a bath towel as toilet paper. Ah yes, the crude thing! I rather enjoyed it, as did my friends, and although we had to wait 3.5 hours to get his autograph it was worth the wait. We got to have a conversation with him, he wrote crass things in our books, and we left satisfied. My only wish is that we were allowed to take pictures!

Yes, read David Sedaris if you like crude humor. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim may be the funniest book I've ever read.

P.S. This books count as my Humor genre for the Eclectic Reader Challenge, and Denim in the title also counts as the first color for my Colorful Reading Challenge.

3 comments:

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Sedaris is hilarious. Me Tal Pretty One Day is my particular favorite. I had the chance to see him give a reading and sign books when his last one came out (Engulfed in Flames) and he was so entertaining!

Unknown said...

I love that book! So jealous that you got to go to a reading.

auntangi said...

TOTALLY worth the 3 1/2 hour wait!