Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my fourth outing with David Sedaris this year, and like the others, I listened to the audiobook of this collection of autobiographical essays. Published back in 2004, the author is a lot less likeable in this collection as he chooses to share many unflattering aspects of his life and personality. These clashed with the picture I was building of him in my mind and his choice to take drugs and bludge off his parents made me cringe. While of course I respected and appreciated his candour, I found myself longing to get back to his clever recollections and personal revelations.
David Sedaris' storytelling qualities are all here and his family dynamics are mined for material, but Sedaris seems to be tempting the reader to disapprove of his behaviour.
I enjoyed his observational wit and droll sense of humour, but I didn't find this collection as strong as his others, so this is where I'm going to leave David Sedaris for now.
The author's latest book A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003–2020) was published last month, however I think I'm going to let his previous works 'settle' a while before considering whether or not to continue exploring his material. Have you read A Carnival of Snackery? What did you think?
For more, you can check out my reviews of Calypso, Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day.
You can seize this book at Booktopia.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I still haven’t read Sedaris though I keep meaning to.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shelleyrae, when you do get around to his work, I can highly recommend Calypso.
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