Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of autobiographical essays about David Sedaris. The book is divided into parts, where part one talks about his childhood life in North Carolina while part two talks about his life in Normandy, France. As a child, Sedaris lives with his family in North Carolina. However, he is experiencing speech challenges and is unable to pronounce letter s. His teacher’s efforts to help him prove futile. Sedaris’ father, Lou, loves jazz music and lobbies his family to attend jazz concerts. Lou contemplates starting a family band. As a result, he enrolls his children for guitar lessons. Sedaris is not amused and he quits afterwards.
In part two, Sedaris talks about adjusting to a new culture in France. He has gone to France courtesy of his lover, Hugh. Hugh owns a home in France. However, Sedaris is struggling to learn French. Sedaris compares and contrasts lifestyles between America and France. Eventually, he comes to question American sensibilities. After a long stay in France, Sedaris starts viewing the world in another perspective. The book shows the experiences encountered by Sedaris in everyday life. Despite the challenges, Sedaris chooses to be patient although sometimes he is pretentious.
From an early age, Sedaris leads a fantasy life. However, he comes to realize that everybody perceives the world differently. Things that are perceived normal by certain group of people are usually abnormal to another group. Despite living in America for many years, he questions its sensibilities at later years when living in France. Most of the characters in these essays show love and support to family members irrespective of differences.
