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“Do yourself a favor and rush out to read the damn book for yourself.
Its already shaping up to be a summer starved for good laughs and,
familiar though they may seem, you’ll find few better than the ones on
offer in Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.”
— Washington Post
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“Like his earlier performances, the essays are sardonic, funny and wry,
but at the same time there is a new strain of introspection that makes
for a book with more emotional resonance, a more complex aftertaste. The
embarrassments of adolescence, the difficulties of connecting, the
sense of being a perpetual outsider—these perennial themes of the author
are not simply played for self-deprecating laughs in this volume, but
are made to yield a more Chekhovian brand of comedy.”
— New York Times
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“Sedaris, humorist and author of the bestselling Me Talk Pretty One Day, once again exhibits his knack for spinning unsettling experiences into pure comic gold.”
— USA Today
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“In his latest collection, Sedaris has found his heart. This is not to
suggest that the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and other bestselling
books has lost his edge. The twenty-seven essays here include his best and funniest writing yet. Here is Sedaris’s
family in all its odd glory…His mother emerges as one
of the most poignant and original female characters in contemporary
literature. She balances bitter and sweet, tart and rich—and so does
Sedaris, because this is what life is like. ‘You should look at
yourself,’ his mother says in one piece, as young Sedaris crams
Halloween candy into his mouth rather than share it. He does what she
says and then some, and what emerges is the deepest kind of humor, the
human comedy.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Sedaris has a knack for turning heartbreaking antics into moments of
outrageous humor…It’s a hallmark of true comedic wit when
stories can be heard more than once and still generate laughter. Highly
recommended for all audio collections.”
— Library Journal (audio review)
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“Sedaris’ piquant essays are as meticulously honed and precisely timed as the best stand-up comic routines, which is, of course, what they are. A National Public Radio star, the author of five bestsellers, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, and a hall-filling performer, Sedaris—openly
gay, nervy as a tightrope walker, sharply hilarious, teasingly
misanthropic yet genuinely compassionate—has a unique ability to supply
exactly the right details to bring every funny, awkward, ludicrous,
painful, horrible real-life moment into harrowingly crisp focus…he is mesmerizing, and his ability to make the reader gasp, laugh out
loud, or grow teary is undiminished. At the same time, there’s an
increased edginess to his work, reminding readers that beneath the brio,
Sedaris, gifted connoisseur of the absurd, is deadly serious.”
— Booklist
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“A must read for Sedaris fans; for novices, the best introduction to one of the nation’s funniest writers.”
— Bookmarks
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“Known for his self-deprecating wit and the harmlessly
eccentric antics of his family, Sedaris can also pinch until it hurts in this
collection of autobiographical vignettes. Once again we are treated to the
authors gift for deadpan humor, especially when poking fun at his family and
neighbors…Sedaris’ sense of life’s absurdity is on full, fine display, as is
his emotional body armor. Fortunately, he has plenty of both.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“A touching reminder of how odd, funny, and unique our lives really are.”
— School Library Journal
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“David Sedaris’ latest collection of essays is his most intimate, made
even more so by his keen delivery. They reflect a writing maturity: His
insecurities and compulsions are more apparent than ever, which just
makes the stories of awkward childhood, awkward adolescence, and awkward
adulthood that much more eminently relatable. Which is not to say that
you won't be laughing out loud…One of Sedaris’ gifts is that he
can be hilarious and heartrending (but never maudlin) in the same
sentence…No less funny on second listening. Sedaris’ essays are written
to be heard, so listen up--he just keeps getting better.”
— AudioFile