David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother's wedding. He mops his sister's floor. He gives directions to a lost traveler. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn't it? In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives -- a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.
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"I was worried to be disappointed if this book was not as funny as Me Talk Pretty One Day, but it was just as entertaining. David Sedaris is so clever and actually makes me laugh out loud while reading his witty observations. I'm planning on reading Naked next. "
— Michelle (4 out of 5 stars)
“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“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“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“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)“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)“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“A must read for Sedaris fans; for novices, the best introduction to one of the nation’s funniest writers.”
— Bookmarks“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“A touching reminder of how odd, funny, and unique our lives really are.”
— School Library Journal“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" I actually listened to this on cd- and it was FAB. Had me laughing tears. "
— Lindseysabo, 2/15/2014" Honestly, I only managed to get half way through this before I gave up. "
— Eva-lynn, 2/12/2014" Heur-lijk. "
— Jojanneke, 2/10/2014" Some funny anecdotes but not really for me. Too unstructured and concerns topics I am not interested in. "
— Richard, 2/2/2014" It started off so funny I had to read under the covers so my husband wouldn't be disturbed by my laughter. Sadly, I didn't find the rest of the book as engaging although there was still humor to be found. "
— CJ, 1/31/2014" This was funny. "
— Kristi, 1/31/2014" I think this is probably my favorite Sedaris books I've read so far. At first I was worried I would have read some of the stories already (since I've already read Holidays on Ice: Featuring Six New Stories and Me Talk Pretty One Day) but there was only one story I had already read, and I didn't really remember it all that well anyway. I think the reason I liked this one more was that now I feel like I have a sense of David and his family so I enjoy the stories better because I have that background. And, I liked that this one was mostly stories that took place here in America (in Me Talk Pretty One Day I got bored when he was in his Paris phase). "
— Shea, 1/28/2014" supergrappig! "
— daisybakker, 1/26/2014" It was crazy and funny as his books usually are. "
— Acumen79, 1/20/2014" Read with caution. It's freaking hilarious, but it was sometimes too crude for me. "
— Anna, 1/16/2014David Sedaris is the author of a dozen books, including four that made the #1 New York Times bestsellers list. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and BBC Radio 4. In 2019, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor, and the Terry Southern Prize for Humor.