Title: Me Talk Pretty One Day
Author: David Sedaris
Genre: Essay
Quotation: “I can’t promise I’ll never kill anyone again…It’s unrealistic to live your life within such strict parameters.”
Would recommend to: anyone that likes short stories.

This is one of those books you read excerpts from in high school and people rave about after they read. It’s one of those books you may have heard about since being a kid and just haven’t gotten around to but swear you’ll read it next year. It’s one of those books that people say you’ve just GOT to read. But I’ve got to say…I wasn’t not blown away.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was a great book – just not great enough to have heard about how great it was for almost six years.

Essentially, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is a compilation of short stories about Sedaris’ life. They are witty, imaginative, funny, and real. Most of all, they are real. They are stories that could have happened to me, which makes the book pretty appealing.

Sedaris is very upfront about his experiences and how they shaped him into the person he is now. I love that. I love that he talks about his childhood and his adulthood and everything in between. You learn where he started and where he is going. But there’s nothing else to this book.

You aren’t going to put this book down and feel like you’ve figured life out. You aren’t going to be inspired to learn a new language (he talks about learning French a lot). You aren’t going to fall in love with David Sedaris (at least I didn’t).

But you are going to have read a great set of stories that passed the time in a pleasant way.

Maybe I’m looking for too much from a book. Maybe that’s not what I was supposed to get out of talking pretty. But it’s kind of what I hoped for, especially after getting my hopes up since junior year of high school.

I don’t want you to think I hate this book. I don’t. I actually really liked it and enjoyed reading it on my plane ride back to school. I just didn’t get out of it what I expected.

So if anything, I recommend this book to anyone wanting to waste a little time or anyone wanting to pass the time at work a little more enjoyably.

Happy reading,
Kimberly