#22 in Essays
Me Talk Pretty One Day
- 272
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
Sedaris turns his own awkwardness into comedy, and the best essays are funny and quietly sad at once. They run from a North Carolina childhood to a move to France with almost no French; some readers find them surprisingly easy to see themselves in, and others call the collection a good introduction to his work. A few pieces show their age for some, and those who dislike crude or aimless humour will not be converted.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Me Talk Pretty One Day, published in 2000, is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. The book is separated into two parts. The first part consists of essays about Sedaris’s life before his move to Normandy, France, including his upbringing in suburban Raleigh, North Carolina, his time working odd jobs in New York City, and a visit to New York from a childhood friend and her bumpkinish girlfriend. The second section, "Deux", tells of Sedaris’s move to Normandy with his partner Hugh, often drawing humor from his efforts to live in France without speaking French and his frustrated attempts to learn it. Prior to publication, several of the essays were read by the author on the Public Radio International program, This American Life.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 809 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 85% of the weight and the score stays at 7.8 — the Essays average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.8 | 55 | 7% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 754 | 93% |
Frequently asked
How long is Me Talk Pretty One Day?
It has 272 pages — shorter than 56% of the ranked books in Essays.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Essays — with scores between 7.6 and 7.9, closest to this book.
