I was listening to this on cd, and I just couldn't get through it. Perhaps it's not fair to judge a book without "reading" (or listening to it) all the way through: still, I feel qualified.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. Actually, I thought that the whole thing was meant as a satire, and my impression is that it is not. My impression (and I may be way off) is that Sedaris genuinely likes to entertain and has valuable advice to give to people who want it.

I guess I didn't really want it -- I feel like it's one of those books you aren't meant to read in one sitting, in the order it's written in or even all the way through. Still, I found it bossy and annoying. Then again, I really hated "Strangers with Candy." Maybe Amy Sedaris - although obviously very talented - doesn't necessarily have universal appeal.

Okay, if you want to buy a present for me, get this. I love it! It's weird that I got it from the library since half of it is really just a cookbook and it is not something you read straight through (even though I did...) but I'm glad I did! Because now I really want it. Partially because I want to try out the recipes to see if they're any good and also because I really want it as like a coffee table book or something to show people or just something to read when I'm bored.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is bored and wants to just to flip to a page and read something funny.
However, I didn't expect the book to be this kind of humor... to be honest I thought it was gonna be a little more like Strangers with Candy. But that would have been just a weird book if it was that way because Strangers with Candy and food would not mix. But this was fine :) My fave part was when she talked about her 12 year relationship with her imaginary boyfriend and cooking alone.

This started out funny, but then parts of it were just plain wierd. I'm glad that it is over.

If we had 1/2 stars I probably would have given this a 3 1/2 and not a total 4. She's as crazy and creative as her brother!!! This book is filled with hospitality advice (when guests come over fill your medicine cabinet with marbles, so you'll know who's going through your personal things), recipes (she likes cheese and there are plenty of cheese ball recipes) & crafts (for instance, there's a whole section on making fake cakes & pies. Pretty interesting actually). There is a whole section devoted to pantyhose. How to wear them, how to make eye burrito's, bath sachets, etc. Very informative. She really had me laughing a time or two. She is rather irreverent, so it's not a hospitality book for everyone. Choose wisely. Some of my favorites: "I've always said that when I die, I want to be displayed in an open casket with googly eyes replacing my own." "I don't usually associate with businessmen on a personal level. I've never held a white-collar job. Apparently, most white-collar jobs require some sort of schooling and to me, the only thing more dull than a white-collar job is schooling." "Think twice before you serve a tomato soup with a tomato salad followed by spaghetti marinara, and Bloody Marys for cocktails. That's a lot of acid to drop in one night." :)

I wasn't sure what to expect when checking this book out. But, this really is a book about being a good hostess with lots of examples of the glamour "do's" and " don't s " of entertaining written in a tongue and cheek manner. I must admit that I skimmed through most of, stopping to those sections that might have pertained to me. I would never put a mini garage sale in my foyer with a 25 cent sign and a coffee cup as a the payment reciprocal, but a college student might. So kudos to her for really covering ALLThe bases. I really did learn some new things. I would recommend this book to pursue for anybody who may throw a dinner party in the future. It taught me how to be both a better guest as well as a better hostess with a few laughs too!

This is Amy Sedaris’ amusing guide to entertaining. She offers all sorts of helpful hints on how to prepare for and entertain various types of guests, throw a variety of parties, and behavior and etiquette guidelines for dinner/party attendees. She also throws in a chapter on proper rabbit care and maintenance – because she has a pet rabbit and it is the center of her world. You’ll also find recipes and suggestions for getting out various kinds of stains. If you get the audio edition of this book, you’ll get to hear Amy say, “Sidebar!” and “Stain box!” in a breathy voice, too.

I didn’t think that I was going to care for this. Amy is funny, but I’m tired of the cheap and easy references to getting people high, providing “party enhancements,” and the like. I can, however, totally get behind bringing the hostess “butter,” or “carrot tops” for her rabbit. I’d be thrilled if anyone brought me things I could actually use… which they might if I actually entertained. At any rate, after Amy mentioned that she has a rabbit, I was pretty sure that she’d have more to say about said rabbit. I was not wrong. If you couldn’t give a hoot about entertaining (and this is sort of tongue and cheek, anyway), you should listen to this if you dote on your pet rabbit (and use it to get money out of your guests!). Amy Sedaris is a complete goofball, but I bet her parties are fun!

I recently saw a tweet about the racism featured prominently in (at least) one of the recipes. I had a real "WTF" moment and tried Googling to find confirmation that the images are from this book. When I read this 12 years ago, it was a library rental. I am surprised that I could be so oblivious because wow, the illustrations are blatantly racist. Was I so desensitized that I didn't mind hipster ironic racism or did I simply skip over the recipes because of the whole being vegan (vegetarian at the time) thing? It's possible I only looked at the crafts because that's all I vaguely recall. Then again, there was a time when I thought Tucker Max was funny so I won't pretend that I haven't been different variations of horrible throughout my lifetime. 2008 is pre-University me. Dark times.

I couldn't find confirmation so if you have a copy lying around and wanna find the "Korean Korner" recipe to confirm, I'd appreciate it. I even skimmed the one-star reviews, but no one mentions racism. They just don't like tampons jokes. It's not that I have any particular reason to doubt the tweet, but re-posting information online without fact-checking is far too common so I'm just trying not to do the same. There's no Amy Sedaris Snopes article though so it's probably true that this book is trash.

I am removing my 3-star rating (not exactly a glowing 5 star rating to begin with) for the time being because there's a global pandemic so I'm not visiting the library or a bookstore to confirm. I have a suspicion that my initial impressions don't hold up over time. That's probably true of a lot of my reviews, but this one was brought to my attention so here I am.

I generally enjoy Amy Sedaris’s sense of humor. The off-the-wall “guest favors” brought to mind the many art projects of my youth. I too, was once obsessed with plastic wiggly eyes and popsicle sticks. Thankfully for us, Sedaris hasn’t outgrown her devotion to making bizarre and useless knickknacks. She also has a knack for icing highly unusual greetings atop cakes.

I can’t imagine ever hosting a dinner party, so I guess you won’t have to worry about me trying any of the tips or recipes offered in this book. That’s probably a good thing.

I Like You yet again reminded me how far off I am from the Standard American Diet. If you want a clue about the contents of the dinner recipes inside, just take a look at the roast turkey on the cover. Meat, meat, and more meat. I in, fact, got rather sick of looking at all of the meat dishes throughout the book. Sedaris writes a touching story about adopting and caring for rabbits, then dives headlong into more meat recipes. Unfortunately, few readers will see the irony in this.

This book amazes me every time I pick it up. Not only is it hilarious, but it is chock-full of good recipes along with party/entertaining ideas and even crafts for each themed meal. They come with funny stories about who might throw or attend each.

I would love to be her good friend, sick neighbor, or beloved relative to get an invite to her little New York apartment. I get the feeling all of the stuff in each picture weren't just borrowed props used to illustrate the book. She has the coolest dishes and furniture. And I love every story about her pet rabbit.

Here's an article about Amy and her apartment. It's filled with the kitschy things I see at thrift stores and sometimes buy for nostalgia's sake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/22/gar...

I like you too, Amy!

I wouldn't have a clue where to file this book. It's full of zany tips on entertaining interspersed with real recipes, sometimes bizarre pictures and unusual helpful household tips...for instance, how to remove vomit stains, how to get rid of uninvited guests (tell them that the doctor says that the best thing for your yeast infection is to expose your vagina to air) and what to serve a blind date for dinner (if you are set on trying something new, rehearse it first on someone you would never date, like your ex-husband.) I can't wait to play the children's party games with my nieces and nephews! They will especially enjoy Play Grownup where we use food coloring to make fake liquors and french fries dipped in ketchup as fake cigarettes...and Gypsy when I blindfold them and drive them across town to find their way home...and Cat Burglar when I lock them out and see if they can break in! There are lots of fun crafts too, and I'm sure my Daily Kitten friends will be rushing to make the homemade cat toys! I do beg to differ with Amy here...instead of gluing googly eyes to a tampon, I think one should draw the eyes on the tampon with a Sharpie. After all, the googly eyes could come off and become a choking hazard for kitty.

:-) What do you expect from a Sedaris? I also enjoyed the cameos of David, the Rooster and best of all, the Rooster's daughter. As an added bonus, there are recipes from the elusive, long-suffering Hugh.

I Like You,
Hospitality Under the Influence
Written By: Amy Sedaris
Published By: Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group USA Inc., 2008, First Edition, 304 pages, softcover
ISBN 978-0446696777

I Like You is NOT an everyday, run-of-the-mill cookbook and entertaining guide. This book contains more then 200 interesting recipes and some very unique thoughts and ideas on how to amuse guests of all kinds. I was a little overwhelmed with the scrapbook-type layout and I was hoping for something a little easier on the eyes. This cookbook is full of old-fashioned photographs, but I found that the photographs overpowered the typed recipes and craft ideas. This book is geared towards women, though some men might enjoy the...


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I initially misunderstand the intention of this book, which was probably why I was little disappointed by it. This book is not funny. I mean, there are funny things in it, but it's not joke book or a send-up of Martha Stewart or anything like that. Instead it's pretty straightforward guide to entertaining (the having-your-friends-over kind of entertaining, mostly, with a just little making-a-spectacle-of-yourself-to-amuse-others kind of entertaining thrown in here and there). As a guide to throwing parties, this is a pretty good book. It does an excellent job of reiterating what the point and the spirit of entertaining is all about, i.e., having your friends come over as guests and showing them all a good time, and has some practical advice about how to do it. I had my Lucky '07 New Years party right after reading this book, and some of the points she made were helpful in planning and execution (I either forgot to read or Amy forgot to write the part about not drinking too much, but I suppose that's really neither here nor there).

As a person who likes throwing theme parties, I can't imagine actually using most of the ideas in here, since I'd rather come up with them on my own. In general, a lot of these food and decoration ideas were brilliant, but it'd be kind of weird to execute them yourself because people would show up at your Kentucky Derby/Orgy party and say, "Oh, you you made Amy Sedaris's Spanish Fly Mint Juleps (that's just a dumb example, I can't remember her actual party themes), I love the crocheted horses-humping-each-other coasters, just like the ones in the book, how cute" or whatever, and that would probably be embarrassing and not impressive like having come up with the idea on your own.

Ultimately, this book just made me want to become friends with Amy Sedaris, so she'd invite me to her amazing parties. Since this is unlikely to happen, this book left me feeling a little left-out and cranky, but I guess that has more to do with me (and my friends who do not love crafts, baking, and devising ways to amuse me and introduce me to the most handsome and witty conversationalists they know) than with Amy Sedaris.