Ah! My first David Sedaris read--not counting the weird Squirrel book--and I finally understand what all the fuss is about. The humor is so good it's mesmerizing. I'm in awe of his ability to make ordinary life sparkle through such rich narration.

There is no mundane task that Sedaris cannot do without dazzling the reader. Anything and everything is cause for social commentary and uproarious observation. From learning to play the guitar to going to the movies to an unusually large turd floating in the toilet, he finds opportunity to poke fun at the world, poke fun at himself, and combine various events into unforgettable knee-slapping comedy.

Truly a landmark, I totally get why this book continues to endure nearly 20 years later. It is an instant-classic that belongs just behind Mark Twain, if not--dare I say--in front.

Elizabeth and I chose this book for our Instagram Live Book Club. Hilarious. My favorite line: "Is them the thoughts of cows?" Makes me laugh every time.

هیچکس دوست ندارد صبر کند تا یک درخت رشد کند برای همین است که خیلی از آدم ها درخت نمیکارند،چون کارشان به جایی نمیرسد.وقتی که درخت قد میکشد، یا مرده اند یا رفته اند به خانه ی سالمندان.
#بلاخره_یه_روزی_قشنگ_حرف_می_زنم
#دیوید_سداریس
#ترجمه #پیمان_خاکسار

David Sedaris has been on the edge of my consciousness for some time. I’m fairly sure that I’ve heard him interviewed on the radio. Or maybe he turned up in these parts to participate in a writers’ festival. In any event, I hadn’t read anyting written by him before and I read this book not because I sought it out, but because it was given to me as a gift. It was given to me because Sedaris writes about Paris and my friend thought that would interest me. She was right. I enjoyed the anecdotes about Sedaris’ life in Paris, particularly about his efforts to learn French.

That said, I’m not sure that I’ll be going out of my way to read more of Sedaris' work. The first anecdote in the volume is partly what put me off. In it, Sedaris writes about the speech therapy he had as a child to overcome his lisp. He seems to be suggesting that all boys who lisp are gay, or possibly that all gay boys lisp. I have my doubts that the story is even true, but regardless of the point Sedaris wanted to make, it left me irritated rather than amused. The irritation persisted, notwithstanding genuinely funny moments in other parts of the book.

Clearly, Sedaris can be funny. However, the funny stories in this volume made me smile rather than laugh out loud and a number of them are probably more fiction than fact. Overall, okay-to-good but not great. Maybe it was just the wrong book for me to read this week. 2-1/2 stars.

I live in a town in France with a shortage of bookshops which carry books in English and sometimes, in spite of the huge choices available online, I get a desperate urge to linger in a real bookshop, combing the shelves for treasure. Invariably, when I visit the one here, I find that I already own most of the more readable books they stock so sometimes I just take a chance based on the cover and the blurb. I liked the title of this collection of short pieces by David Sedaris and it said 'Wildly entertaining' on the cover so I cheerfully handed over my money. I'm not sure that it is 'Wildly entertaining' but a good friend whose opinion I trust has pointed out that this is worth persisting with so I did. I found some of his comments on living in France, and learning French, very apt. He feels that he has a different personality in French and this is something I have been feeling for years. No matter how long you have lived in a foreign country or how relatively better you master the language, you nevertheless are a different communicator in that language. You never say exactly what you want to say, only what you can say. Sometimes there is a big difference.

عالیه... عالی! عاشقانه دوستش دارم! بارها و بارها خوندمش، برای دیگران و خودم! شب هایی که می خوندمش و صدای خنده م از اتاق بیرون می رفت رو فراموش نمی کنم!
* پیشنهاد میشه، برای همه اونایی که دلشون خنده می خواد

.
از این کتاب خیلی تعریف می‌شه، خیلی زیاد. اون قدر که ممکنه دافعه ایجاد می‌کنه. خوشبختانه خیلی رندوم و بدون دیدن این تبلیغات از سحر قرضش گرفتم و وقتی در موردش خوندم کاملا موافق بودم. با وجود اینکه مقدار زیادی از محتواش اتفاقات تلخ و دارکه اما تونست واقعا و در تمام طولش منو بخندونه. قسمت‌های اقامتش در پاریس همیشه یادم می‌مونه به خصوص وقتی می‌خواست خرید کنه. شکل طنز سداریس واقعا مناسبه.
لینک طاقچه

This was my first David Sedaris book, and I was not disappointed. Each essay was clever and funny in its own way, and I enjoyed hearing about his life, especially his time in France. I will definitely pick up more books by him when I come across them.

Very very funny and David reading these stories himself was just the icing of the cake. Lots of lol moments, especially precious memories.

Read again on 22 January, 2012 ,

Recently a goodread friend asked me whether he should read David Sedaris. I said yes, of course, but at the same time, I started rummaging around my place, turning my house upside down looking for my audiobook CD. Reading Margaret Atwood got me in a really gloomy mood recently, but David Sedaris has successfully cheered me up again.

The best essays in the book are about David’s struggle to learn French. His problem with the gender associated to French words for example: vagina is masculine and masculinity is feminine. Try as he might, he can’t find connection there. His thoughts:

“I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to lady crack pipe or good sir dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied?”

Impeccable logic there, don’t you think?

His French teacher is not very kind either. This time for instance:

“I hate you' she said to me one afternoon. 'I really, really hate you.' Call me sensitive, but I couldn't help but take it personally.”


David also has some interesting remarks about Americans he meets in Paris. Like that time when a couple thought he was a French pick pocket. Ahh, you would think that I won’t laugh at all those jokes again. But I did, I so did! I laughed and laughed as if some one was tickling me. David Sedaris! Gosh, he is funny…

Please, please listen to the audio book. I know many people hate this book, but please just try it in his voice. The way he says it, his intonations. He is a smartass, is hilariously self-debasing.

Highly recommended but only in the audio format.

4 high star!

Oh, David Sedaris, I had to force myself not move right on to another of your audiobooks. I listened to Calypso a while ago, and I loved it - funny, smart and real. Me Talk Pretty One Day is an older book, and gives me a glimpse at a younger Sedaris, but the humour and view onto himself, his family and the world are recognizable. There are some great stories about teaching a writing class and learning to speak French that I especially loved. Exercising self restraint will give me a chance to savour the books I have not yet listened to. And I suspect there may be a risk of too much a good thing ruining the effect if I listen to them all at once. But once I get through this bleak audio history of The Troubles in Ireland, I’m going right back to Sedaris...

دیوید سداریس، نویسنده و طنزپرداز معروف آمریکایی در این کتاب از تجربه‌ی بزرگ شدن در شهری‌ کوچک، زندگی در نیویورک و شیکاگو، همجنسگرایی، کالج، استفاده از مواد و زندگیش در فرانسه می‌نویسه. برای من داستان‌ها کاملاً معمولی بودند. با اینکه متوجه طنز ظریفش می‌شدم، روی من تقریباً هیچ اثری نداشت. فقط وقتی از شدت خسته شدن از کتاب سراغ ورژن صوتی با صدای خودش رفتم، اجراهای سداریس جلوی حضار از چند داستانی که همشون توی کتاب هم نیستن برام جالب بودن و ستاره دوم هم فقط به خاطر همینه

خلاصه به شدت توصیه می‌کنم اگر در مورد این کتاب کنجکاوید سراغ کتاب صوتیش برید. نکته‌ای که راجع به طنز هست اینه که خیلی سلیقه‌ایه و سداریس ممکنه به ذائقه‌ی شما خوش بیاد ولی برای من طنزش خشک و آبکی بود

M's Books :کتاب و صوتیش

۱۴۰۰/۹/۱۸

آشتی من با طنز آمریکایی محقق شد بالاخره