Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris is a collection of personal stories focusing on his family of origin. The family is frequently a topic of David’s essays and I admit it’s a bit like overhearing a therapy session: little scandalous, a little delicious. I had read stories about Amy in other books, but his other siblings took center stage in this one.
I loved how David portrayed his brother as so opposite from himself. When his brother was born, the older sister Lisa and he tried to dress Paul up as a girl. But however many outfits they tried on Paul, he was all boy. David ended up giving Paul all of his own unopened sports equipment.
My favorite story is “Repeat After Me” about David’s visit to his sister Lisa, and his family’s feelings about being the subject of his essays. When discussing a movie that was going to be made from one of his books, Lisa is concerned about how she’ll be portrayed. “Will I have to be fat in the movie?” she asks. This story is Ouroboros-like in nature (snake swallowing its own tail). They discuss David writing about David writing about them. Meta-communication in a real situation.
David takes a regular family event and shows every nuance, irony, and neurosis there is. A great collection.
