Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives, a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.

©2004 David Sedaris (P)2004 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Humor and Short Stories/Collections, 2005

"In his latest collection, Sedaris has found his heart. This is not to suggest that the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and other best-selling books has lost his edge. The 27 essays here include his best and funniest writing yet....What emerges is the deepest kind of humor, the human comedy." (Publishers Weekly)
"Sedaris is a careful writer, with a no-muss, no-fuss style that rarely misfires." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Sedaris' piquant essays are as meticulously honed and precisely timed as the best stand-up comic routines, which is, of course, what they are....Sedaris, openly gay, nervy as a tightrope walker, sharply hilarious, teasingly misanthropic yet genuinely compassionate, has a unique ability to supply exactly the right details to bring every funny, awkward, ludicrous, painful, horrible real-life moment into harrowingly crisp focus....He is mesmerizing." (Booklist)
"Sedaris has a satirical brazenness that holds up next to Mark Twain and Nathanael West." (The New Yorker)

Funnier than Engulfted in Flames

David Sedaris has produced another collection of essays and collected them in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim." For me, Sedaris was an acquired taste and this volume is the most enjoyable for me. It seems lighter and funnier than Engulfed in Flames which I found a little dark.

In this volume Sedaris sensitively tells about his family, early experiences, and quirks of family members. Some passages will leave you laughing out loud. The writng will catch you off guard and carry you to places you have never known possible. The reading is worthy of the book.

first-rate

I loved the warmth, darkness, edge and hilarity of these stories. Mr. Sedaris is incredibly skilled as a comedian and a writer.Can't wait for more!

Not his best but still worth a listen

I don't know why I like this guy but I do. We have nothing in common but his clever wit and biting sarcasm is appeals to me. Not only that, his comic timing is perfect. Some stories started slowly but built to a hilarious ending. I didn't find this book as consistently funny as "Me Talk Pretty One Day" but there were a few times I had to rewind the book because I was laughing so hard. His deadpan delivery fits his material perfectly.

Don't be expecting a stand-up comic monologue, or a Dave Barry joke-a-minute essay. Sedaris tells stories from his bizarre life with wit and insight and enough self deprecation that you can believe them. Recommended to anyone who likes excellent writing and can wait a while for a punchline.

Hysterical

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. I was unsure at first but once you get a grasp on his very dry approach, David Sedaris will have you in hysterics over the candid, honest, and more oft than not self deprecating fashion of story telling.

Which scene was your favorite?

The stories of Christmas celebrations in countries other than America.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Amazing

Not everyone will find this book humorous, funny, or hysterical but then again, not everyone is supposed to... only the intelligent people will. Any book that can make me, at 2:30 am, in my bed, laught out loud and want to continue listening despite the fact I need to be up in 4 hours is a must have. In fact, many evenings I had to force myself to turn off the iPod in my own best interest. David Sedaris is truly one of the most entertaining writers of out time and if you haven't figured that out yet, then you haven't looked into him. Amazing book... I have all of David's writings and am looking forward to the next with hopes that it appearfs on bookshelves very soon.

Deliciously funny in a classic Sedaris way

As silly and irreverent as ever, this is one of DS's best collections of stories about his endearingly dysfunctional family. It's a classic made even even better by getting to hear it read in his own voice. Every chapter made me laugh out loud. It's not often that I reread or listen to a book more than once. This is one I will enjoy over and over.

Listened to it twice

David Sedaris is one of my favorite authors and narrorators. His books and essays are always a great mix of complex human emotion and experience. The only thing that caught me off guard is that I had already heard two of the stories from previous books, but that didn't stop me from listening to this book twice and loving it each time. Thanks for the hours on enjoyment, David!

Snarky, smart and entertaining!

Intelligent humor. Some dark/mature themes and adult humor/language. I laughed out loud throughout the whole book. "Six to Eight Black Men" made my husband and I laugh so hard we cried!

Laughing Out Loud Alone in the Dark!

What made the experience of listening to Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim the most enjoyable?

The cynical humor Sedaris brings to everyday life...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim?

The Rooster! Sedaris' brother Paul is just hilarious as seen through the author's eyes.

What about David Sedaris’s performance did you like?

His voice is perfect because it is him! The hint of sarcasm is fabulous.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole thing moved me to roll on the floor hugging my gut laughing

Any additional comments?

If you need a good belly laugh Sedaris is for you

Well Worth It

What did you like best about this story?

Sedaris has a way to bring his audience right into the action. It is masterful how little exposition he gets away with. One professor I had in college described a way to tell the height of craft in a writer by how well they can introduce and describe the being of a character in one sentence. Sedaris uses this throughout, perhaps my favorite was one involving his sister and a dog in a car accident.

What does David Sedaris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having it read by David Sedaris is a huge plus. He makes it a performance and it's a delight to hear the accents, the emphasis, and the tones as he intended.