"Kids — they can be nice and stuff, but I don't think they're that bright.... It can't be that hard."
He says his parents never read to him when he was a child. Mine didn't either. Sedaris's parents put the kids to bed with "2 words: 'Shut up.'"
The book's illustrator is Ian Falconer, famous for the "Olivia" books, who died last year, as Sedaris mentions, in a set up to a remark that only he could make.
Falconer is quoted in his NYT obituary: "If I had to say one thing, it would be to not underestimate your audience. Children will figure things out; it’s what they do best — sorting out the world."
You know who did not underestimate his audience? David Sedaris, when he told that joke about Falconer on the late-night talk show.
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Fantastic! Thanks. He signed one of my son's books at a reading with a drawing of breasts. His audio books are my road trip entertainment every time.
Sedaris seems to have studied diction under Truman Capote.
"Children will figure things out; it’s what they do best — sorting out the world."
If that were true, therapists would be out of work, and tattoos would not have to be illegal for kids under 18.
Anyone can write a children's book. The real question is, "will children read it?"
I was reading by three years old. My parents, if they read to me, stopped at that point.
But my mom would tuck me in, rub my back, and sing a lullaby. (She was a great singer.) A happy memory doesn't make good talk show fodder, though.
What.... the hell is he wearing?
Sedaris seems to have studied diction under Truman Capote
…as his sister who has an identical cadence…
I'm grateful that Myers asked about the shoes.
Kate said...
“I was reading by three years old. My parents, if they read to me, stopped at that point.”
Same here.
My parents did read to us kids until we could read on own.
What I got out of it was that Seth Meyers needs new furniture.
He always surprises me with his looks. I listened to him for years before I saw his picture. So, in my minds eye, he always looks like David Spade with dark hair.
Men(?) in shorts(?).
I won't say that my parents never read to us, but I will say I don't remember them doing so.
Neither of them read much, though each of them had well-read siblings.
Some of my friends' parents were well-read, especially their fathers.
My mother read to me and my siblings long after we could read. Measles was a wonderful week of a long pre-Victorian chapter book. There was even reading aloud on road trips.
It's not just "how to read" that children have to learn; it's "how to enjoy complex and deeply interesting reading."
I must be the only person in the room who thinks David Series is at heart a cruel, bitter man, and who finds his “humor” - which if you’re paying close attention is rooted in that cruelty and bitterness - is for lack of a better word gross.
- Rafe
I love David Sedaris. Not sure I'd be on board with his children's book, however. Another famous gay celeb -- Kate McKinnon -- has also just come out with a children's book. You have to wonder whether publishers are seeking out gay authors in order to shoe horn more "marginalized viewpoints."
I preface my comment with the observation that while I have friends who love, love, love David Sedaris and with whom I share a lot of intellectual and comedic interests, I've never found Sedaris to be either interesting or funny at all. It's not dislike; it's a complete lack of reaction or engagement. (Similarly, his sister registers only the slightest bit with me.) To the degree I pay any attention to him, it's to try to understand what my friends (and Althouse) see in him.
With that as a preamble, I will say that Sedaris' remark about Falconer almost certainly represents the first time I've laughed at anything I've heard him say, and I actually laughed out loud. I also found myself grinning at his remark about the parents' liquor cabinet.
A breakthrough, perhaps?
Rafe said..."I must be the only person in the room who thinks David [Sedaris] is at heart a cruel, bitter man, and who finds his 'humor' - which if you’re paying close attention is rooted in that cruelty and bitterness - is for lack of a better word gross."
Yes, I have the same sense! I think that is where my historic indifference to him comes from.
I don't know how closely this aligns with his fan base overall, but out of my friends who vocally love his work (and I do mean "love" here), I'd say that 90% of them are female, and the men who love his work are very liberal politically.
I clearly remember my father reading bedtime stories to us from the "Old Mother Westwind" stories most prominent in my memory among the many stories he read to us. He used to sing bedtime songs to us, as well. I don't recall my mother participating in the bedtime story reading and singing...but then, she was our caretaker while he was at work during the day, (prior to our entering elementary school).
I can still recall the utter thrill I felt when I began to be able to read stories for myself. For me, books, even as objects, have always had a magical aura about them, most vividly when I was younger, but still today to a degree. Both my parents were life-long avid readers, as has been my (non-identical) twin brother. (My younger brother, although quite smart, never has been much of a book reader. He was the athlete of the family.)
Notwithstanding my younger brother's example, I believe my dad's reading to us regularly at night, along with our parents' reading habits, certainly sparked my reading habit. I'd bet this is true of many life-long readers. Similarly, I think children who grow up with parents who read little or nothing are less likely to become avid readers.
"I must be the only person in the room who thinks David Series is at heart a cruel, bitter man, and who finds his “humor” - which if you’re paying close attention is rooted in that cruelty and bitterness - is for lack of a better word gross."
Most humor arises from negative feeling: cruelty, fear, sadness and disappointment, hostility, etc. Most comedians, so I've long and often heard, are not particularly happy folks in their private lives, often, in fact, quite the opposite.
That's two posts in a row with men in dresses.
He's a droll writer and personality, but I agree that he seems unhappy deep down. I've read a few of his books and didn't really find them engrossing.
I don't remember being read to as a child, I was reading adult books by around 7 years - what got me hooked one summer was picking up The Wreck of the Mary Deare, by Hammond Innes, at the summer rental my granddad had gotten at the beach, and getting completely lost within the story, tuning absolutely everything else out until I had finished it.
But we made it a point to read to our daughter, until she was well into her childhood. We ended up with Harry Potter and I think she was getting on toward 10 then.
She's doing the same with her daughter now, the kid is not yet 2 but she has most of her book's storylines memorized and can roll them off after she picks the book. They go through 3 or so books before naps and evening bedtime, and I would guess her library numbers 2-3 dozen now. She's got the alphabet memorized and can count too. I can't help but think that this is the product of starting her early with the joys of reading.
"The Plot Against the King 2000 Mules" Paperback – August 29, 2022
by Kash Patel (Author), James Scrawl (Illustrator)
Kash Patel partners with Brave Books to bring a fantastical retelling of the horrible plot against Donald Trump to the whole family. It teaches fairness, integrity, and most of all: the importance of being truthful.
“This book should be in every school in the country.”
- Donald J. Trump
Kash Patel tells the fantastical story of how two inquisitive minds, Dinesh and Debbie, search for the truth and uncover evidence of a terrible scheme to elect Sleepy Joe instead of King Donald on Choosing Day. Included in the book is a special message from Dinesh D'Souza.
This is a children's book complete with cartoon illustrations that champions the conspiratorial lies presented in the D'Souza movie, "2000 Mules." MAGA knows no shame.
He's wearing culottes. If you read his books you know he loves them. He gets his balls busted but doesn't care.
I'm sure he seems smart and funny to some people. I don't get his schtick.
Live, he made me laugh so hard there was a moment I couldn't inhale.
I'm conservative to a T. I find Sedaris funny as all get out -- but I like dark and inappropriate humor. If you have read anything about his family life, you know that there was and is a lot of mental illness in there -- him, included. I am reminded of the time(s) he constantly stopped up the toilet (which his dad had to fix and not without difficulty) over and over again until his dad found out the truth. He is weird as Hell, he hates Trump and most conservatives/Republicans but I enjoy his work. For some reason, I don't ignore him as I do with some singers -perhaps because he makes me laugh. And other than sex, there is nothing I like more than laughing.
Count me among the very conservative men who find Sedaris funny and entertaining. His politics don't come into it at all. We disagree about politics, I'm sure of that. But who cares?
I went to a well-attended reading by Sedaris over here, and he is indeed a great raconteur.
My mother was an elementary school teacher, so of course we kids were read to regularly. My favorite author was Dr. Seuss. I think we had the entire collection of his works in our small home library. I credit Dr. Seuss for my lifetime love of reading.
Sedaris is ok, he is listenable. Yet if he thinks that children are “not bright” he is the most uninformed man on Earth. Sad.
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