Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

1 review

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.