Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves," he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God," says one. "Then he be die one day on two... morsels of... lumber," says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox guy whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mom and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: "To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests."
Editorial Reviews
"Wildly entertaining." --Daphne Eviatar, Christian Science Monitor
"Experiences this enjoyable are usually illegal....If wit were measured in people, David Sedaris would be China: His talent is that huge." --Archer Blake, Denver Rocky Mountain News
"The lunacy of language is Sedaris's chief delight...He is a prime candidate for funniest writer alive." --Greg Villepique, Salon.com
"Sedaris glitters as one of the wittiest writers around...a beacon of comic sanity in a terminally chic world." --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
David Sedaris is the author of the books Calypso, Theft by Finding, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked, and Barrel Fever. He lives in England and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
