Tow #19: IRB "Me Talk Pretty One Day" By David Sedaris (Part 1)

David Sedaris, a writer known for his satirical tone and sometimes crude humor, published his bestselling book in 2000 called Me Talk Pretty One Day. This book is a collection of twenty-seven essays split into two parts. The first part is called One, which includes details from Sedaris’s childhood and young adulthood before he moved to Paris, while the second part, Deux, includes stories from his life after moving to Paris with his boyfriend, Hugh.  Although he may have a much larger purpose that is more evident later in the book, so far Sedaris’s purpose is a entertain people by telling the story of his life structured in a series of short, creative nonfiction essays. So far, he has created an interesting and entertaining story by using foreshadow, hyperbole, and fresh metaphors.  In the first essay, Sedaris foreshadows how he first started speech therapy lessons. A woman asked him a question that if he had answered differently, he would not have revealed his lisp. However, before the audience knows why the simple question affected his life so much, Sedaris uses foreshadow by saying “it was an answer I would regret for years to come.” The effect of foreshadowing keeps the reader interested in his story and successfully entertains the reader. Along with foreshadowing, Sedaris keeps his story interesting by using metaphors and hyperboles in order to entertain his audience. When addressing his crystal methamphetamine addiction in the fourth essay, he states that “a fistful of burning hair could not begin to represent the mess I had made of my life.” This quote stuck out because it is fresh, meaning many people likely had never heard anyone compare their lives to being worse than a fistful of burning hair. This made the reader realize just how hard it was for Sedaris to overcome his addiction. Although the two examples I used were not humorous, it is important to note that Sedaris used humorous metaphors and foreshadowing as well. This humor along with his creative nonfiction writing techniques is ultimately what drives the plot and keeps me interested to start reading Deux.