Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

6 reviews

issyd23's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Highbrow Emily in Paris 4🥖

Oh how I love David Sedaris! Specifically waited until I was living in indo so I could get the full foreigner experience of the Normandy essays. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death of parent, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Toxic friendship

rockythefreak's review against another edition

I thought I would enjoy this book, since the titular essay was an interesting assignment in one of my college classes. Well, if you think racism, ableism, child abuse, and gay stereotyping is funny, you'll love the first three chapters of this audiobook. 

When Sedaris' is the butt of the joke, it calls to mind unfunny teenagers that self-deprecate to garner a pity laugh. When others are the butt of a joke, he's punching down, like when he mocks Japanese children's accents and the clothes his guitar teacher wears since he's a little person. 

One truly disgusting "joke" suggests (child sexual abuse)

someone abusing him emotionally would enjoy mutilating children's genitals.

Run, don't walk, away from this garbage. I'm glad for what I got out of the one essay I enjoyed. This shit aged like milk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Ableism, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Animal death, Homophobia, and Outing

jrisants's review against another edition

1.0

UUgggghhhhh.

I really just wanted a fun book that would make me laugh. Apparently, this was too tall an order. The stories are...inflated at best, and completely false at worst. Even if the stories are real, it seems clear that his sister Amy has better stories and humor. These grievances aren't even the worst of it, what I couldn't stand was the embedded ableism, racism, and sexism. It was subtle and too much at the same time. I'm so tired of comedy that only knows how to joke at the expense of marginalized folks. If you can't punch up, don't take the jab. The only chapter that really got me giggling was "I'll Eat what He's Wearing." While I was reading I kept thinking that this is what it must have been like to be raised by a white upper-middle-class father who thought he was funny.

Someone, please recommend something funny that avoids harm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Racism

cassie_04's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

3.5

Very interesting structure, very funny and relaxing to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Racism

chandle5's review

1.5

I do not understand why people believe Sedaris is funny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Ableism

Moderate: Homophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

anxiousanura's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

This book was overwhelmingly mediocre. I've liked Sedaris' writing in the past. He has a strong style and seems to take particular pleasure in describing the most disgusting aspects of life (ex. bowel movements, rotten food, etc.). This is a great strength in his writing that seems to add to his comedic style. He didn't shy away from it in this book, but the humor rarely landed. His writing tends to be reflective highlighting his experiences and his thought processes. This book was no different, but the humor in this reflection was weak. 

The book wasn't bad. It just wasn't anything to write home about either. The anecdotes about his sister, Amy, and partner, Hugh, were the most interesting in the entire book and the most fun. The rest were mildly amusing. It's a good read for a slow afternoon if you have nothing better to do. I would suggest borrowing it from the library rather than buying it yourself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Ableism, Xenophobia, Violence, Death, and Animal death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Sexual content, and Vomit

Ableism

There is a story with a little person as a primary character. The M word is used liberally. The individual man is dehumanized by a kid and society at large.

Rape

Amy made a joke that David is going to court for rape. This is not true. It was a joke to make him hated by everyone on a bus as a prank. It is stated in passing and then never acknowledged again.

Grief and Death

He mentions the death of his mom a few times in the story. It is mentioned that his father might be using his dog as a replacement for his mother. There is also a story involving each of his childhood pets dying. It is not treated with any true gravity.

Fatphobia, Misogyny and Sexism

His father is extremely focused on how the daughters in the family look. He heavily stigmatizes their weight and makes numerous comments about how they will never find a man and must exercise to not let themselves go. Their worth is tied to their looks and their weight. Eating disorders are encouraged. His father gets pranked by his sister and is swindled into exercising when he makes these claims, but he doesn't regret doing it and doesn't change his views for a second. He's just relieved that Amy isn't actually fat like he thought.