Book Review: Sedaris' Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Is Wicked, Human

Having heard and enjoyed David Sedaris’ commentary on public radio (most memorably, his tale of Christmas elf-hood on This American Life), I was pleased when my sister gave me a copy of Sedaris’ book Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim recently.

I read the book in a couple of sittings over the course of three days. This is extraordinary these days—I have two kids under age three in the house.

Sedaris’ essays are wicked and cutting, and aimed at dysfunctional family dynamics so sharply that, were they not also so sweet and funny, I would wonder darkly at the message my beloved sibling might have been trying to send.

This mix of sharp and sweet is a line trod deftly by Sedaris; he knows how to admit, with relish, to the most mean-spirited and inappropriate thoughts, and somehow evidence through that admission more humility and warm humanity than many sincere efforts at gentle humor (All I Really Needed To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, say) that drift toward mawkishness.

And while mawkishness may make people sigh wistfully and smile sadly, there were viscous, tender, wicked, humane moments in this book, and plenty of them, that made me laugh out loud, and then sigh and smile and blah, blah, blah. And all of them were utterly inappropriate ...
Edited: PC

Article Author: Ernesto Burden

Ernesto Burden is a digital media executive in the newspaper publishing industry. He has been an editor and reporter with daily and weekly newspapers. He is a writer, runner, musician and an avid student of the Web, technology, literature, religion …

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