I thought David Sedaris was delightful when I read "Santaland Diaries" in "Harper's" back in 1990-something. His first few books were laugh riots .But David Sedaris lost his appeal to me since then. His narcissism has become so apparent (an understatement) it's not possible to ignore. I dip in every so often to see whether either his writing has improved or my cognition has declined, but so far, my opinion holds: he's a minor talent with a major ego.
Wow. Didn’t know David is moonlighting as an archbishop: Be fruitful and multiply! Spare the rod, spoil the child!
I share his list of grievances and am delighted to see him on TFP, but his diagnoses and solutions are silly. “One of the worst things that’s happened to us as a country is…single children…[because they] receive a freakish amount of love and attention.” One of the worst things? Good grief. “The solution [is for couples to] either have a full litter you can’t pay that much attention to, or nothing at all. When the message can be boiled down to “back in my day, things were better and we were tougher”, it becomes clear that one is listening to grandpa’s ramblings again, his sweeping negative generalizations about young people and rationalizations of his own life and generation. Nearly every old person believes younger people are a bunch of “hothouse flowers.” It’s funny how so many old people consider their earlier life to be the ideal model for everyone else, no matter how miserable it truly was when they were going through it. Yes, something is lost now that correcting our children with a haymaker is culturally unacceptable, as something is always lost when cultural norms change. But something is always gained, too.
I always assume David is writing with tongue in cheek, but there are enough clues that suggest otherwise and plenty of people who eat this stuff up without a second thought. An entertaining read, regardless. Keep it coming.
Utterly awesome commentary! I often joke that my parents didn't really like me or my brother...which, of course, isn't true. The thing is I think they really did love us because they weren't afraid of teaching us what we needed in order to live meaningfully in society and, bottom line, to do that, one cannot get caught up in feeling so special about oneself. And, my goodness, at age 62, am I grateful for how I was raised!
My father's favorite quote: "The best way to a kid's head is through his backside!" He lived up to it, although he always made sure we had an excruciatingly long discussion before we got spanked so we could properly repent our transgressions. On a road trip once, he screeched the car to the side of the road, got out whistling, flicked out his pocket knife and whittled a switch by the side of the road. Then proceeded to switch us, one by one, as cars roared by on the highway.
Not one car honked, pulled over, or called the cops. We all laugh hysterically about it to this day. Modern parents don't understand what wonderful memories they're missing.
OMG!!! I'm weeping with laughter and agreement!
Loved this
Thank David Sedaris. Thank you.
THAT WAS GREAT!! Thank you, btw how many kids do you have?
I love the story about the Japanese mother on the subway. I can’t get over how wonderful that is!
I thought David Sedaris was delightful when I read "Santaland Diaries" in "Harper's" back in 1990-something. His first few books were laugh riots .But David Sedaris lost his appeal to me since then. His narcissism has become so apparent (an understatement) it's not possible to ignore. I dip in every so often to see whether either his writing has improved or my cognition has declined, but so far, my opinion holds: he's a minor talent with a major ego.
This is brilliant. I have never read David Sedaris. I am now going to read everything he has ever written.
For me, personally, it is not that importatant, BUT for all who follow me it is extremely important. We simply MUST get it right the first time.
This was brilliant. Love this guy.
“Beat your children once a day. If you don’t know what for, they will”.
Mark twain
"fewer people means less demand for resources"
OMG THANK YOU for using these correctly
Wow. Didn’t know David is moonlighting as an archbishop: Be fruitful and multiply! Spare the rod, spoil the child!
I share his list of grievances and am delighted to see him on TFP, but his diagnoses and solutions are silly. “One of the worst things that’s happened to us as a country is…single children…[because they] receive a freakish amount of love and attention.” One of the worst things? Good grief. “The solution [is for couples to] either have a full litter you can’t pay that much attention to, or nothing at all. When the message can be boiled down to “back in my day, things were better and we were tougher”, it becomes clear that one is listening to grandpa’s ramblings again, his sweeping negative generalizations about young people and rationalizations of his own life and generation. Nearly every old person believes younger people are a bunch of “hothouse flowers.” It’s funny how so many old people consider their earlier life to be the ideal model for everyone else, no matter how miserable it truly was when they were going through it. Yes, something is lost now that correcting our children with a haymaker is culturally unacceptable, as something is always lost when cultural norms change. But something is always gained, too.
I always assume David is writing with tongue in cheek, but there are enough clues that suggest otherwise and plenty of people who eat this stuff up without a second thought. An entertaining read, regardless. Keep it coming.
Utterly awesome commentary! I often joke that my parents didn't really like me or my brother...which, of course, isn't true. The thing is I think they really did love us because they weren't afraid of teaching us what we needed in order to live meaningfully in society and, bottom line, to do that, one cannot get caught up in feeling so special about oneself. And, my goodness, at age 62, am I grateful for how I was raised!
Loved every word
That was AMAZING David!
My father's favorite quote: "The best way to a kid's head is through his backside!" He lived up to it, although he always made sure we had an excruciatingly long discussion before we got spanked so we could properly repent our transgressions. On a road trip once, he screeched the car to the side of the road, got out whistling, flicked out his pocket knife and whittled a switch by the side of the road. Then proceeded to switch us, one by one, as cars roared by on the highway.
Not one car honked, pulled over, or called the cops. We all laugh hysterically about it to this day. Modern parents don't understand what wonderful memories they're missing.