Another Pair Down
I had the pleasure this weekend of finishing off two more volumes of David Sedaris' work. Where he dreams up some of this stuff is beyond me. I'll admit that some of his stories have me roll my eyes and wonder why I bother, but before I can seriously entertain pushing it aside, another gem floats to the top making it all worth while.
Holidays On Ice
To date, this has included some of his best stories. His life as an elf in the Macys's shopping store in New York had me laughing out loud. SantaLand diaries covers everything from the preliminary group lectures ("You are not a dancer. If you were a real dancer you wouldn't be here. You're an elf and you're going to wear panties like an elf.") to the perils of inter-elf flirtation. Along the way, he paints a funny and sad portrait of the way the countless parents who pass through SantaLand are too busy creating an Experience to really pay attention to their children.
Naked
Naked reads like a jumbled life story, where years make little difference but the characters remain the same. Whether he's revealing his painful teen years or the hilarious summers hitchhiking to various parts of this country, every note rings true. Sure, Sedaris' style is still exaggerated and surreal, but that's how life feels a lot of the time, isn't it?
Posted by ac at October 13, 2003 12:13 PM