Pradip, a close friend of my brother's, read this book about 5 years ago, and recommended it to everyone. I chanced upon it during my recent trip to NYC, and was reminded by my brother, when he saw the stark grey cover lying on his couch, that I was a bit late on this one.
Mostly, I thought it was brilliant and hillarious. It's challenging to keep a high standard of witty writing right throughout a book, and Sedaris almost gets full marks. I like his underdog approach, and the fact that he's irreverent about everything: himself, his family, his male lovers, America, and the rest of the world. But while he mocks everything in his universe, he's gentle as well, and is a lover of humanity and of eccentricities. This dual aspect of his writing, kept me hooked. He alternates between the formal and informal, which I found refreshing. He will write a beautifully structured and nuanced sentence, at times with self-conscious formality and then follows-up with informal, and often, brazen langauge.
My favorite piece (I don't know what else to call it because they aren't chapters, though the book is loosely autobiographical and chronological) is Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist. It's about his time in art school and is a masterpiece of writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment