Apparently not all of you share my love of David Sedaris. I had no idea. When I moved to NYC, Me Talk Pretty One Day had just come out & everyone, & I mean EVERYONE, was reading it. And they were laughing out loud while reading it. On the subway! In public! This was a book I had to read. I bought it; I read it; I loved it. It was the funniest book I had read up to that point.
In the years since, I've read all of Sedaris' books, most of his short stories, listened to him on NPR & seen him live twice. I've enjoyed all of his books, but so far, Me Talk Pretty One Day is still my favorite.
For graduation, Jessica got me his latest book, Squirrel Meets Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary. It's a collection of short morality stories enacted by animals. I read it the other day & loved it. The illustrations are great. They're done by Ian Falconer, who does the illustrations in the Olivia children's book series. I think my favorite story in the book is The Cow and the Turkey, possibly because I heard him read it on This American Life Holiday Spectacular. It's about a secret Santa gift exchange between barnyard animals. Here's an excerpt:
"The cow was notoriously cheap, so it surprised everyone when she voted yes for the secret Santa scheme. There were, of course, no shops in the barnyard, which was a shame, as all of the animals had money, coins mainly, dropped by the farmer and his plump, moody children as they went about their chores."
So funny! Definitely recommend this book, as well as Me Talk Pretty One Day. For you nonbelievers, maybe download some free podcasts on iTunes & listen to him read his stories. It may help to hear him actually tell the story, as opposed to just reading it yourself. Also, & lastly, this short story that appeared in The New Yorker is effing hilarious. To quote my good friend Michael Eades, if you don't think this is funny, "you're beyond my reach."