The book was beautiful and revolting, amazingly creative, funny, crass, insane and at times oddly serious. The design of the book was painstakingly detailed and packed dense with images and information. The food photos -and many of the recipes- looked like they were pulled from 1960, which often had me saying, "I want to make this…. ew... maybe I shouldn't". The chapters rambled and ideas were scattered, but along with every "WTF...Huh?" was a true gem of an idea. You can tell she was born to entertain and has unforgettable parties people will talk about for years to come, for better or worse. The bottom line: It is important to make the effort to entertain. Show your family and friends "I LIKE YOU". Be simple, be elaborate, but the message is clear and it brings joy to life.

For the record, this review is for the audio book version; I may have rated it differently had I read the book. Also for the record, I was a good way into it when I realized that this book is NOT really geared towards heterosexual men such as myself (it was her giving advice on "vaginal cleansing" aka douching before I made this realization! Yeah, I know I'm slow.)

I'm very familiar with (books by) Amy's brother, David Sedaris, and am a big fan. So I think I was hoping to find something just as funny and witty. Sadly this book is neither. To be sure, there are a few funny moments and quirky/interesting advice scattered here and there, but I found much of information useless. For instance, most of the recipes are meat-based. So being a vegetarian, they had no appeal at all for me. A few that are vegetarian are full of butter and cheese, and not very interesting. And frankly I don't a know a single health-care provider (and I know A LOT) who advocates douching (as it often causes chemical irritation to the vaginal mucosa and potentially increases risk of infection). Perhaps Amy Sedaris should be advising women to be more comfortable with their natural vaginal scent instead of trying to get them to smell like gardenias or whatever!

This book cracked me up. The author's voice really comes through. It probably helps that I have read a lot of her brother's books, so I have a sense of where she's coming from. It's a strange mix though of parody and seriousness. There is a fine line between the two but that makes it even funnier. She does sometimes cross the line into crude territory but that's all a matter of your own experience/tolerance, isn't it? I haven't tried any of the recipes but some of them look pretty good. I love her quirky obsessions and her odd craftiness, her ability to laugh at herself. She would be a fun person to hang out with (in small doses). I also appreciate that the advice is coming from a "regular" person, not some perfectionist with endless resources and a full-time staff. Of course that's part of the joke but it still rings true.

I expected this to be a joke cookbook, but there are real recipes in here, and most of them look pretty good. Sedaris's book also includes diferent party themes, complete with decorating and entertaiment ideas (one of the games for the children's party was called "Gypsy - blindfold the kids, drive them to the other side of town and leave them somewhere they've never been before. The goal is to find their way back) and general tips - she suggests filling your medicine cabinet with marbles because "nothing announces a nosy party guest quite like the sound of marbles striking a porcelain sink"
Apparently Amy Sedaris appeared on the Martha Stewart show to promote this book. I am very, very angry that I missed seeing that.

So, this book was a surprise for me, in more ways than one. First of all, I have to say that Amy is NOT as good a narrator of her own stories as her brother David - she SOUNDS like she's reading out of a book, often not even doing as good a job as my father did for my bedtime stories..

BUT, she does do funny voices, and the sound effects and music chosen liven up the occasionally uninspired chapters.

There were certainly laugh-out-loud instances, and since she's from Raleigh, her 'southern accented' redneck recipes and hints were close to home!

Worth a light read, but maybe not buying...and although I haven't seen the printed version, I think that the audiobook might be a better way to go as well.

There is just so much going on in this book and considering that this essentially is a cookbook, I read it cover to cover. Amy Sedaris is a total crack-up. With this book you will learn all the must-knows and need-to-do’s to throw a successful get-together. There are sections on how to get weird stains out post-party, tips on how to make money off your friends when you invite them over to dinner, entertaining the elderly (thread needles as take home gifts0, ways to beat hangovers, or how to vomit discreetly, making all kinds of fun crafts with pantyhose - including a picture step by step tutorial on how to finagle your way into those pesky pantyhose, and plenty of other things Amy deemed essential for you to know. Aside from all the silliness, there are also some very useful tips like: "Never bring an appetizer that requires work in the host's kitchen" or "A host doesn't need more stuff on her meager counter space" or "Don't bring flowers - the hostess will have to stop everything to find a vase". Along with all the party tips there seem to be really good recipes which were simple to prepare and make, and there are some great shots of Amy (50's retro style) that were great - especially the one where she is covered in frosting with sprinkles (hilarious). So all in all, I LIKE YOU, was a pleasure to read and a book I’m sure that I will have to refer to time and time again. Amy Sedaris is my new hero!

Favorite section:
-The F*ck It Bucket - sometimes in life you just have to say "F*ck it!" and eat some motherf*cking candy.

I love books on cooking and entertaining and hospitality and particularly I love cookbooks that are random and strange and full of recipes with lots of cheese and potato chip crumbs. I also like hearing about the Sedaris childhood.

So I liked this book a lot. And I liked that it was straight up actual entertaining book, with random ridiculousness thrown in. For instance, in the midst of an actual, real set of recommendations about making guests at a party feel comfortable, she advises, "if you see someone boring someone else, just be grateful it's not you" and "if you see a shy person, ask them some questions, like "why are you so shy? Tell everyone. We're all listening."

I read this on my iPad but I might buy a physical copy so I can keep it with the rest of my cookbook collection and make some of the recipes.

I'm not super into her writing style though. It's a bit too rushed and frenetic. It's sort of like she's frantically running from one idea to the next, trying to avoid any lulls in conversation. I don't know if it's because she hops so much from one subject to the next or what. I've come across this writing style before and I just find it very distracting.

I'm sure she'd rather not be compared with her brother, but honestly, the style is a bit anti-David Sedaris. Particularly when you hear him read his writing, it has a soft flow with pauses and quiet reflection. Sort of like being in in a warm pool of a luxury spa. Whereas her writing is more like being pelted with rocks.

I'm baffled by this book and can't give it any rating. This is a sort-of humorous, sort-of serious book about entertaining, and the problem that it's way too hard to tell where the line is drawn and when I'm supposed to take the contents as a joke or seriously! For example, the book is full of real recipes... BUT they're not very good ones. And the pictures of them look absolutely awful. BUT if the awful photography happened to be intentional in line with the classiness level of the book, I can't fault it for that. The book is full of sarcastic jokes, but right after them will be some serious piece of advice about being a good host. This was just a weird book that was not for me, but I don't think I can be a fair judge because I don't know if the parts of the book I didn't like were done that way intentionally to be humorous/trashy.

Amy Sedaris wrote a book just for me!!

Well, ok.. she didn’t write it JUST for me, but this book is my new guide to life!

I Like You: hospitality under the influence by Amy Sedaris is almost impossible to classify. Technically is supposed to be a guide to entertaining. But it’s also a cookbook (with over 100 recipes), a guide to parties and social occasions (from entertaining in-laws to blind dates), and so much more.

In case you’re wondering just who Amy Sedaris is, or why that name sounds familiar, then either you know of her older brother David, or you’ve seen her on Comedy Central or in movies like School of Rock. Look her up on Wikipedia they”ll tell you shes and actress, comedienne and and author.

So why is “I Like You: hospitality under the influence” such a great book?

Where else can you find gift wrapping ideas, a variety of mixed drink recipes, menu ideas for dinner for one, multiple recipes for pie crusts, a guide to the right hairstyle for your face shape, a photo essay on putting on pantyhose (as well as uses for old ones), and silly craft ideas for all ages, just to name a few. Every page in this book is a delight.

Now if you like your books neatly organized with lots of white space and outlines and things, this book will probably hurt your eyes. It does have chapters – sort of. And an index – kind of. But it reads more like some eclectic person’s journal. Someone who doodles a lot and has ADHD.

To me, that’s at least half the fun. But then, like I said, she wrote this book just for me, and I’m getting my very own personal copy (and a stack of little post-its to mark specific pages!) But the library has a copy you call all fight over. --Beth

From ICPL Staff Picks Blog

This is one of the most bizarre books I have ever read. Yes, it's a book about recipes & how to be a good hostess, what kind of guest to invite & how to decorate for a theme party. But there is also so much odd-ball quirkiness scattered throughout the pages, it's down-right hilarious.
I never read out loud to anyone, but there were quite a few times I had to tell my husband to listen & even he had a few chuckles.
This is one book that will definitely be on my Wish List. I actually rechecked my copy out again from the library so I could peruse the pages some more. If you have any friends or family that enjoy being a hostess & they have a good sense of humor, this book would make an excellent gift.

I started listening to this audio book this morning and finished it by the end of the day. Its short, funny and entertaining. Amy is the very funny sister of David Sedaris and like him they are crazy unique individuals. Their funny quirky stories make you laugh but there is always something relatable about them. Amy explains in I Like You how to throw the perfect party. She gives you recipes, decorating ideas and activities for your party. For example, if you are entertaining elderly people you may want to give them threaded needles as parting gifts? I liked this book. It had a lot of giggling and one or two laugh-at-loud moments.

I expected the delightful comedy but somehow failed to realize I would also be getting genuinely sound entertaining advice. I recommend the audio (except hearing the occasional recipe is a touch tiresome)