Beyond funny
Like so many people, I can't read David Sedaris's books without laughing out loud. On a long plane ride recently, I came across a hysterical riff about Easter in his Me Talk Pretty One Day. I hope that the intellectual property police won't mind my snipping a bit of it out for you:
It was, for me, another of those holidays I'd just as soon avoid. As a rule, my family had always ignored the Easter celebrated by our non-Orthodox friends and neighbors. While the others feasted on their chocolate figurines, my brother, sisters, and I had endured epic fasts, folding our bony fingers in prayer and begging for an end to the monotony that was the Holy Trinity Church. As Greeks, we had our own Easter, which was usually observed anywhere from two to four weeks after what was known in our circle as "the American version." The reason has to do with the moon or the Orthodox calendar -- something mysterious like that -- though our mother always suspected it was scheduled at a later date so that the Greeks could buy their marshmallow chicks and plastic grass at drastically reduced sale prices. "The cheap sons of bitches," she'd say. "If they had their way, we'd be celebrating Christmas in the middle of goddamn February."It gets better, especially the part about "he die one day on two... morsels of.... lumber." If you want to read the whole thing, it's here or here.
| Posted at 5:10 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (3)
David Sedaris is indeed laugh-out-loud funny. I've almost been embarrassed while reading his work in public places, because I just can't stop. The "two morsels of lumber" tale is one of my favorites! What would Sister Edna say? I had the good fortune to hear Sedaris read in New Brunswick (NJ) just a week ago. Got a brand new copy of Naked autographed, too. Thank goodness for the twisted humor that is borne of a dysfunctional family. (We're all dysfunctional to some degree, but Sedaris makes you jealous that you can't top his stories.)
Posted by Bernadette Jusinski | April 8, 2007 6:12 PM
Some comments may have been lost (at least temporarily) due to a server failure on April 14, 2007.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 15, 2007 9:55 AM
I was reading the chapter, "You Can't F&^% the Rooster" from this same book on the subway in Stuttgart, Germany. I continuously busted out laughing despite trying hard to keep it in to the point snot was coming out of my nose. Hysterical laughing in Germany is frowned upon as being a sure sign of madness. But, I could not keep it in. After that, I left Sedaris at home and started reading depressing German authors like Herman Hesse so I could be morose in public.
Posted by Travis | April 8, 2007 9:12 PM
Just to be completely accurate here, reviewing the story in question, I see that "you might f&^% him up sometimes, but, b*tch, nobody kills the m*&^%*f*#*ing Rooster."
Posted by Jack Bog | April 8, 2007 10:51 PM
Oh, I'm busting up just reading that sentence...thinking of the story behind it.
Posted by Travis | April 9, 2007 8:36 PM
Unbeknownst to me when I posted this, this year the two Easters fell on the same day.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 10, 2007 2:23 AM
It is the rabbit of Easter! The rabbit of Easter bring of the chocolate!
I've got him reading it on CD, and it cracks me right up every time, no matter how often I hear it.
Posted by SP | April 10, 2007 9:05 PM
Jack, that's right. Both Easters came together this year. The day of Christmas is "fixed" though. It's always Jan 7th; must be another Sedaris' story. He sure has my share of memories; on Saturday evening, Orthodox Easter Mass would end around 5 am on Sunday (of the same week).
Posted by pilot | April 11, 2007 1:27 PM
[Posted as indicated; restored later.]
Posted by Blog restoration | April 15, 2007 5:50 PM