A Response Paper on Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Free Essay Example

First Response

I found this book to be rather humorous and somewhat controversial. Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of short stories from the life of the author. In the first story “Go Carolina”, Sedaris writes this “In order to enjoy ourselves, we learned to be duplicitous. Our stacks of Cosmopolitan were topped with an unread issue of Boy’s Life or Sports Illustrated, and our decoupage projects were concealed beneath the sporting equipment we never asked for but always received” (10).

This has to do with how he’s not interested in sports and how that’s seen as not being masculine. I must agree on how witty this is and found myself chuckling while reading but I think he may have crossed some lines possibly. He then goes on to say, “She was probably thinking along the lines of SPEECH THERAPY LAB, though a more appropriate marker would have read FUTURE HOMOSEXUALS OF AMERICA” (10). Sedaris jests about people with lisps and homosexuality which could be found offensive by some.

Earlier he talked about how it was all boys who were receiving help and how they were like him and either did or enjoyed ‘girly things’.

My Feelings on the Book

This book has made me feel many things. The main feelings that it has brought upon me from positive to negative. It made me feel joy and sadness, but it also made me feel concerned for the author at points. We’ll start off with the joy this book has brought me.

In “Nutcracker.com” Sedaris talks about computers. “More than once I accidently pushed a button and recoiled in terror as the blank screen came to life with exotic tropical fish or swarms of flying toasters” (145). That line just makes me laugh out loud. I mean this was when computers were more primitive and bulky, so when Sedaris presses one of the keys on the keyboard the screensaver or something just pops up and scares him. I just find it humorous.

This book can be sad at points. In the story Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist, Sedaris talks about his drug use and how it helped him with his art. “Everything around me was art, from the stains in my bathtub to the razor blade and short length of drinking straw I used to cut and ingest my speed” (46). Just how he got into crack and speed is sad by itself, but when his dealer goes into rehab he freaks out and begs her to stay so he would be able to finish his art projects. One point that made me feel concerned was in “Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist” where you can see the effect Sedaris’ drug addiction has affected him. “It was gone in ten days, and with it went my ability to do anything but roll on the floor and cry” (55). His grandmother gave him money that he used to purchase what he had hoped would last him a month but he used it all up in ten days. Later he talks about how the high of speed is followed by deep depression.

Plot Items

1.) “Go Carolina” is the first story of the book. It’s what introduces most to what is David Sedaris. It talks about his background as a child and how he had a lisp growing up. He also talks a lot about homosexuality and later on in the book we find how he he has dated other men so it’s kind of foreshadowing. (3-15)

2.) “Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist” is about how Sedaris was an artist trying to become successful. It also talked about his use of crystal methamphetamine. He transferred from different colleges to others and put on art shows that were either successful or not so successful. Later his dealer goes into rehab and he begs her to stay and it all just spirals down really. (39-59)

3.) When he was young he grew up in New York but then his family moved to North Carolina where they had another son named Paul. Paul was something else for his high-pitched voice is different from Sedaris’ because Paul was affected by his association with country work crews and his love for hard-core rap. (60-61)

4.) “See You Again Yesterday” is a story about how Sedaris met his lover Hugh and their first trips together to France. Sedaris goes on about how he doesn’t want to be alone and meets Hugh. They then go to France multiple times and Sedaris doesn’t speak the language, so he has to learn words at a time. Which leads to the title story “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, where he goes back to school to learn French. (153-165)

5.) “Smart Guy” talks about when Sedaris took an IQ test in Paris and needed someone to compare his results with so he brought Hugh along. The test was in four parts. The tests ranged from spatial relationships to having four pairs of dominoes then having to predict what the fifth pair would be. When he got the results back he was disappointed and thought of himself as nothing but a big fat dummy even going to say that the weight of some cats was more than his IQ. Hugh then comforts him and tells him that he’s good at other things. (239-247)

Imagery

“I always thought of Mister Mancini as a blowhard, a pocket playboy, but watching him dip his hamburger into a sad puddle of mayonnaise, I broadened my view and came to see him as a wee outsider, a misfit whose take-it-or-leave-it attitude had left him all alone” (27). I find this passage describing Sedaris’ guitar teacher rather interesting because of how Mister Mancini dips “… his hamburger into a sad puddle of mayonnaise” (27). I visualize a small man apathetically plunging his burger into a pile of mayo. “Bonnie was a dour, spindly woman whose thick girlish braids fell like leashes over the innocent puppies pictured on her sweatshirt” (126). This sentence clearly illustrates Bonnie. It tells you how she was tall and how grim she appears. Later in the sentence Sedaris compares Bonnie’s hair to leashes that held the innocent looking puppies on her clothing. “The black eyes and purple jaw were accentuated by an arrangement of scratch marks on her forehead. Pus-yellow pools girdled her scabbed nose, and her swollen lips were fenced with mean rows of brackish stitches” (141). This is a passage that is chock full of imagery! Like how her bruises stood out more due to having scratch marks on her forehead. Sedaris vividly describes her face describing how her nose was scabbed and encircled with pus. I also like how he describes the stitches as fences.

“I bought my drugs from a jittery, bug-eyed typesetter whose brittle, prematurely white hair was permed in such a way that I couldn’t look at her without thinking of a late-season dandelion” (46). The way Sedaris describes his dealer from the way she’s unable to stand still and how delicate her white hair was. I also like the metaphor where Sedaris compared her hair to that of a late-season dandelion. “Miss Samson instructed me, when forming an s, to position the tip of my tongue against the rear of my top teeth, right up against the gum line. The effect produced a sound not unlike that of a tire releasing air” (11). I know exactly what Sedaris is talking about here. The sound of a tire losing air can be easily replicated with one’s mouth. Also the feeling of the tongue pressing against the gums is one that is known by all and is easy to relate to.

Connections and Personal Stories

I connect to some of the stories in this book. One of them was “Go Carolina”, in which the main character and other boys weren’t interested in sports or anything. On page 10 Sedaris said, “… our decoupage projects were concealed beneath the sporting equipment we never asked for but always received” (10). I used to play sports for a while but then lost interest in them or when I’ve received gifts for either my birthday or Christmas from relatives that are sporty I would just say thanks and wish to get rid of it as soon as I could. Later in the book there’s the story “The Learning Curve”, in which Sedaris teaches a writing workshop at a college. “I don’t know who invented the template for the standard writing workshop, but whoever it was seems to have struck the perfect balance between sadism and masochism. Here is a system designed to eliminate pleasure for everyone involved” (91). I myself loathe writing. It’s always stressed me out to the point of shutting down. Huge papers like this one are the things that make me lose sleep at night. I took keyboarding in tenth grade and it was nothing but drone work.

Thoughts, Author’s Purpose, and Theme.

David Sedaris, throughout the writing of his novel, wants the reader to laugh, think about life, and love. I think Sedaris wants us to laugh because a majority of the stories in this book are humorous and use colorful language that gets the point across. He talks about how his father really wanted his daughters to be thin and beautiful so when Amy, Sedaris’ sister, and David planned a practical joke on their father. The father said in response to David trying to make his dad be quiet about Amy’s ‘weight problem”, “Her what? Go ahead and say it: her big, fat ass. That’s what she’s ashamed of, and she should be! You could land a chopper on an ass like that.”

The way Sedaris makes us think about life is something I haven’t had much exposure to. He talks about his drug addiction, his love life, and his family life. He talks about how he did lots of speed and how he was a homosexual. He hinted at his homosexuality in earlier stories and then talked about his relationships with other men. He also talks about his siblings and parents. The events he talked about were both serious and light-hearted. The way he talks about love is slightly different. It might have to do with him being a homosexual but what I connect to is how he has high standards. “Another part of the problem had to do with my long list of standards. Potential boyfriends could not smoke Merit cigarettes, own or wear a pair of cowboy boots, or eat anything labeled either lite or heart smart” (154). I too have had problems getting a partner and not wanting to be alone for the rest of my life. So Sedaris gives me hope with his stories.

Textual Elements and their importance

“He talks so fast that even his friends have a hard time understanding him. It’s like listening to a foreigner and deciphering only shit, motherfucker, bitch, and the single phrase You can’t kill the Rooster” (61). That quote is talking about the Rooster who is Sedaris’ brother. This quote pretty much sums him up. He’s just one of those wannabe gangsters from North Carolina basically. The way he talks and the things he talks about just help to prove this. “As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show” (167). In the short story that the book is named after “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, Sedaris is returning to school at the age of 41 to learn French. All the students around him are younger and better dressed which makes him feel like Pa Kettle from Ma and Pa Kettle. The fact that he knows of Ma and Pa Kettle is a reminder of how old he is again compared to the students.

“I absorbed as much of her abuse as I could understand, thinking — but not saying — that I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to Lady Crack Pipe or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied” (170)? This passage shows the personality of Sedaris and his sense of humor. Here he is being lectured by a teacher and he’s just thinking about how stupid parts of foreign languages are. “Hugh consoled me, saying, ‘Don’t let it get to you. There are plenty of things you’re good at.’ When asked for examples, he listed vacuuming and naming stuffed animals. He says he can probably come up with a few more, but he’ll need some time to think” (247). This passage details just how loving and funny David’s partner, Hugh, is and shows that humor can be used to lift people’s spirits up.

I wanna say the most important word in this book is ‘fuck’, because why the fuck not?

– “Certain motherfuckers think they can fuck with my shit, but you can’t kill the Rooster. You might can fuck him up sometimes, but, bitch, nobody kills the motherfucking Roster. You know what I’m saying?” (62)

– “When shit brings you down, just say ‘fuck it’, and eat yourself some motherfucking candy.” (67-68)

– “The student pulled out his notebook, wrote something down, and handed me a sheet of paper that read, “That’s the stupidest fucking thing I ever heard in my life.”> (93) – “‘Just ‘you know what?” Richie asked. “Just use our fucking magic powers or just, you know, go home?'” (116)

– “I’ll listen to their presentations and lead them on a bit before suggesting that the recently named Planet Fuck You Up the Ass with a Sharp Stick might not be for everyone” (255). The word fuck is essential to the novel because it lets you know that this book is not for the easily offended or those middle-class conservative mothers. It’s for those who want to be entertained, taught life lessons, or offended because they like being offended for some reason.

Juxtaposition

Sedaris and his brother, The Rooster, are rather different. In the story “You Can’t Kill the Rooster” Sedaris recalls the way his brother acted when they were younger. The Rooster, or Paul, had quite a mouth on him while Sedaris did use vulgarity Paul was something else. “This is the grown man who now phones his own father to say, ‘Motherfucker, I ain’t see pussy in so long, I’d throw stones at it.” (61). The way Paul uses obscenities and scatolgical terms referring to the female genetalia is just unbelievably immature. Especially towards his father! This helps make the story more mind boggling as to how the father is able to just ignore this and look past it. David Sedaris’ father Lou in “Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities” has plans for his kids to learn instruments and become a family band. “All you need are some lessons and instruments, and I swear to God, you’d go right through the roof. We hoped this was just another of his five minute ideas, but by the time we reached the house, his eyes were still glowing. “That’s exactly what you need to do,’ he said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.”” (20). David Sedaris and his siblings didn’t like that idea and eventually got out of playing their instruments in the end.

Word Detective

First Word: Xeroxed (verb)

Sentence: “I had never gone to graduate school, and although several of my stories had been Xeroxed and stapled, none of them had ever been published in the traditional sense of the word” (83)

Meaning: To make a copy of a document using xerography.

Second Word: Broiling (verb)

Sentence: “With a mixture of awe and envy, we watched her broiling away on her aluminum blanket” (35).

Meaning: To cook (usually meat) by directly exposing it to intense heat.

Third Word: Parceling (verb)

Sentence: “I’m thinking of parceling off portions of my brain?” (46),

Meaning: To divide into portions then distribute.

Fourth Word: Meticulously (adverb)

Sentence: “She meticulously charted the repetition of their shoes and earrings and was quick to pinpoint their mannerisms” (134).

Meaning: Thoroughly.

Fifth Word: Feigned (verb)

Sentence: “Surprised that this woman was calling him at work, our father feigned enthusiasm as best he could” (135).

Meaning: Faked.

Sixth Word: Itinerary (noun)

Sentence: “We hoped the play might satisfy Bonnie, but once she’d gotten a taste of her itinerary, there was no stopping her” (129).

Meaning: A route or journey that was planned.

Seventh Word: Dour (adjective)

Sentence: “Bonnie was a dour, spindly woman whose thick girlish braids fell like leashes over the innocent puppies pictured on her sweatshirt” (126).

Meaning: Extremely strict or firm.

Eighth Word: maître d’ (noun)

Sentence: “My jacket belongs to the restaurant and was offered as a loan by the maître d’, who apparently thought I would feel more comfortable dressed to lead a high-school marching band” (120)

Meaning: A/The manager of a hotel.

Ninth Word: Noxious (adjective)

Sentence: “Standing in their new apartments, the air noxious with the smell of paint” (113),

Meaning: Harmful.

Tenth Word: Constitutes (verb)

Sentence: “That, to my mind, is only three ingredients and constitutes a refreshing change of pace” (124).

Meaning: To make up something (composition)

Culture and Worldviews

If there was a main culture in this book I would have to say it is either art culture or gay culture. For Sedaris is both an artist and gay. You see the artist culture in “Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist” where Sedaris is a struggling artist in college and tries to be successful multiple times and spends most of his money on drugs so he can work on his art. You would see the life of a homosexual in stories like “See You Again Yesterday”, where Sedaris meets Hugh, who is his now his longtime partner. They went on multiple trips to France where they now reside.