for language
Reviewed by Susan Johnson,
MyShelf.com
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Warning! Don't listen to this book while driving. Not only will you laugh so hard you cannot see to drive but you will also find yourself drawing funny looks from fellow motorists.
David Sedaris starts these essays with a story from his early school years. It seems David had a speech impediment and could not pronounce the "s" sound. After a few sessions with the school speech therapist he developed his own way of dealing with the problem by acquiring a brilliant vocabulary to bypass the dreaded "s".
David Sedaris finds humor from everyday life situations. Listening to stories about his own dysfunctional family made my family seem almost normal. David's sense of humor borders on the sardonic: perhaps it could even be called slightly warped. Having the book narrated by the author, in his often deadpan style, served to make the book all the more hilarious to me.
It takes a true storyteller to take situations from their everyday life and make them entertaining. I suppose that is what makes David Sedaris thought of as a modern day Mark Twain.