David Sedaris has two books on the New York Times Bestseller list this week. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and Me Talk Pretty One Day are considered satirical and comedic gold. The question is, are these works gracing your bookshelf?
Brittany Finney, an avid Sedaris fan, said the author is blessed with a wit that is sharper than a cutting knife. After hearing about Sedaris from a friend several years ago, Finney read Me Talk Pretty One Day and was convinced his other books were also worth reading.
“I thought Me Talk Pretty One Day was the funniest book I had ever read,” Finney said. “That is, until I read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.”
Even though Finney has been aboard the Sedaris bandwagon for years, it seems that other readers are beginning to catch up.
Memphis’ Davis- Kidd bookstore has sold nearly 1,500 copies of Sedaris’ nonfiction books. Katherine Whitfield, an employee at Davis-Kidd, said that Sedaris has a unique ability to move a reader to both tears of joy and sadness.
Sedaris’ works, which include, among the bestsellers listed above, Naked and Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays, discuss slice of life moments such as work and family.
“Jerry Seinfeld points out the more mundane qualities of life,” Whitfield said, “Whereas Sedaris has written pieces that are just excruciatingly poignant. You find yourself at the end asking, ‘Do I burst into tears or laugh?’”
For Sedaris fans, his writing is funny on the page, but hearing the author read his work aloud is even more worthwhile. Sedaris’ audio books sell extremely well at Davis- Kidd, as well as other bookstores because of the author’s delivery.
“Normally audio books will sell between 10 and 20 copies, but his have sold over 100 copies,” Whitfield said,
A few years ago, Ben Jenkins, senior creative writing major as well as the fiction editor of River City Magazine, said that after hearing Sedaris on National Public Radio, he became a fan.
“He was reading an essay called “Santaland Diaries” about when he worked as an elf in a department store, and I thought it was just hilarious,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins has gone on to read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, but he remains a bigger fan of hearing Sedaris tell his stories.
“I enjoy listening to him read because he has such great subtle comedic timing,” Jenkins said.
A common thread among Sedaris’ books is the ability to relate to his subject matter.
His writing is sardonic but he does have a love for his family, according to Jenkins.
“His cynicism dissolves into admiration,” Jenkins said.
