This collection of comic essays show you how hard it is to write comic essays. It was an easy read, but let’s just say David Sedaris’ crown is secure.
It’s my second book in under a week by a young woman living in New York, after MY MISSPENT YOUTH , so perhaps it is just I am a bit tired of the pitfalls of trying to make it in publishing.
It’s kind of dated, having been written ten years ago. You can tell because she explains vegetarianism like we are going to find it really freaky. Also the reviews! I see that some male reviewer at the Guardian comments that he has a ‘tendency to be disappointed by the most well-rewarded female columnists. . . ” As if female columnists are both exceedingly rare and all very similar.
Some of it however was pretty funny. Let’s end with her father’s obsession with fire:
For major holiday dinners, there is no such thing as a ‘fire in the background.’ The flaming abcess in the living room is always in the foreground, dominating the attention and the conversation.“It’s a good fire, Denis,” says my mother, standing yards away from it.
My father contemplates this, having conducted a staring match with the fire for almost an hour. It’s hard to say who’s winning.
To be honest I’ve already largely forgotten this book. So: nothing further.