March 13, 2010

David Sedaris is a funny man. Similar to Anne Lamott and Donald Miller: self-deprecating humor, witty remarks, insatiable curiosity and an underlying tenderness beneath it all.

I'm reading his Me Talk Pretty One Day. One chapter in particular had me rolling. Big Boy. It's 3 pages and it's about poop. If that sort of thing interests you, then this book is for you.

He's also gay. You might think its odd I mention that. And yeah, it probably is. But that's one of the reasons I picked up the book (besides the fact that everyone raves about David Sedaris). I wanted to know what he thought about life growing up gay. How it was different from mine. I wanted to know what he thought about God, his parents, and the world.

What I've found out so far comes down to these few things:

- his father was never proud of him
- his family is really weird
- he fell ass backwards into writing and has made a career of it
- his life feels less funny than sad

On that last point....it's a feeling I get throughout the book when Sedaris writes about his father or his relationships or his jobs. His self-deprecation is different from Miller and Lamott. They don't seem to believe those things about themselves, or, if they do, laugh them off. Sedaris, though, I think he believes things about himself that make me sad for him. Not that the book is a total downer just that its a little sad.

So far though, I've loved it. Sedaris has a new fan. His books will be lining my shelves.