I read these stories/essays as I ate breakfast before work, and they definitely got my day off to a fun start.

A mixed bag, but classic Sedaris. I'm sure I've read this collection before, but enjoyed it this time around.

The essay on living in Tokyo is worth the price of the book. The other essays were a bit hit and miss. Not his funniest.

3.75 / 5

Este es el segundo libro de Sedaris que me toca leer, y algo me dice que el resto de sus libros van más o menos por lo mismo: ensayos sobre su vida profesional, amorosa y familiar, sin un orden temático o cronológico. El humos de D.S. es magistral, y como me pasó con el libro anterior que leí, disfruté de algunas historias más que de otras. El secreto es encontrar los personajes recurrentes más entrañables (para mi, su mamá, su hermano y Paul y su vecina octagenaria de NY) y disfrutar de sus historias, ignorando un poco los temas o personajes menos interesantes para el lector. Pero está suave.

I think I must have been in some sort of end of winter funk when I started this book. I didn't think it was funny - it was just like the other book of his that I had read - I really should be reading something else. Then I got to the part about the "Stadium Pal" and I lost it. Then there was no stopping me from reading passages out loud to my husband whether he wanted me to or not.

I hated Me Talk Pretty One Day when I first read it maybe 14 years ago (or it's more that I couldn't muster any respect for the character Sedaris as put forth in the essays, which colored my reception of his book, in which there are admittedly some very funny essays), but then I had a pretty big chip on my shoulder back then. This is the second Sedaris collection I've read this year, and I've warmed to him. It may help that now that I've heard recordings of his reading some of his essays, I hear them in his voice and with his pacing, which are distinctive and good. There's lots to laugh at in this collection, and also stuff not to laugh at (he's not a humorist only), and I liked it. The title essay was kind of annoyingly long and rambly, though I guess that was by design.

This collection is gentler than Sedaris' others, but no less funny. I laughed out loud multiple times during each piece. His story about quitting smoking in Japan is particularly excellent.