Me Talk Pretty One Day is one of the funniest books I've ever read. It's a series of stories by David Sedaris and is a journal of his travels around the country and to France. One of my favorite chapters is "Jesus Shaves." During a discussion in his French class, the teacher questioned the students about Easter (or Bastille Day in France). One woman in the class doesn't know what Easter is and the class is forced to explain it to her. The only problem, is that their language skills don't involve complex phrases such as "to give of yourself, your only begotten son." To add to the confusion, there is no Easter bunny. Instead, a giant bell flies in from Rome to deliver candy. Sedaris has a hard time understanding why a bell is the symbol of Easter especially when it has "all the personality of a flat iron skillet." The class discussion comes to a close with the woman simply turning her attention back to the comic book she has hidden in French book. Another chapter that is worth a read is "You Can't Kill the Rooster." Sedaris' family moved to North Carolina because his dad got transfered. His parents refused to let their kids develop a southern accent, but this all changed when his youngest brother was born. The rules were not as enforced; for example, Don't smoke pot, became Don't smoke pot in the house, and eventually just Don't burn the house down. After the death of Sedaris' mother, his youngest brother moved in with his father to help him cope with the loss. Half the words in the chapter I can't really repeat here, but it's worth a read. You can also download the audio versions of these chapters off Ka Za A
?. [Sarah Agnew
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