Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris)

So David Sedaris makes me look a little psycho. No, not in comparison to his sanity—Ha! As if! Not by pointing out the oddities of my character but because, when I read this book, I couldn’t help but talk to myself, exclaiming about Sedaris’ witticisms. And, yes, laughing out loud. Very loud. It went a bit like this…

The Boyfriend: “What on earth are you doing in there?”

Me: “Sedaris.”

The Boyfriend: “Ah.”

I finally saw that reading the funny bits aloud to The Boyfriend was also unproductive. He could barely understand me—reading fast with excitement and laughing over all the words, having to back track to pertinent sections. He must have thought he was watching me share and inside joke with myself. Or, with a book. Normally I just keep such jokes between you and me, my beloved internet.

Me Talk Pretty is witty, sharp and, as if you couldn’t guess, very funny. The book is a collection of autobiographical tales relating to Sedaris’ inability to communicate with the outside world. It begins with his childhood lisp and his trusty thesaurus, which would provide an s-less an alternative to any word. It follows Sedaris into adulthood, living abroad in Paris and attempting the evil and malicious French language. Literally translating all those French phrases—such as the movie Is it Necessary to Save the Private Ryan?—and regaling the native population with his mastery of one word. The word? Ashtray. Quite handy over there.

A great contribution to the pursuit of “reading for pleasure.” I place quotes around that for those of you who may not have tried or even heard of the concept. I guarantee that for you, especially for you my non-reader friends, this book is so fun and easy that it just may change your mind.