After hours of
in-depth research and careful consideration, I settled on the book that I would
be reading for this summer’s AP Language homework. The previous sentence is a lie. The truth is, as soon as I saw that one of
the optional books on the nonfiction reading list was written by David Sedaris,
I immediately lowered the status of all other options on my mental scale of
importance and settled comfortably on Dress
Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
Like all of Sedaris’ memoirs, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is
in the format of multiple witty essays and anecdotes from his life as a son in
a typical yet colorful middle-class family.
Despite the fact that I have only read five of the essays in this memoir
so far, I have already found myself lost in trying to decipher Sedaris’
complicated family life. The structure
of the family itself is not the confusing part (even though his many siblings
may be hard to keep track of at times), but rather the emotional connections
between the family members. The
relationship between the children and their parents I find to be especially
curious, as their attitude towards each other tends to change from one story to
the next. In the essay “Let It Snow,”
Sedaris tells the story of an uncommon North Carolinian snow day, on which his
mother locks him and his four young sisters out of the house until a neighbor
finds one of them lying on the road in the dark. On the other hand, “The Ship Shape” depicts a
much more positive image of Sedaris’ mother and father as they enjoy their
summers vacationing with the kids and encountering the ups and downs of real
estate. This almost careless transition
between cruel and pleasant parenting can be quite off-putting and rather
displeasing at times.
The
irritating component of these frequent mood changes is that Sedaris never
really takes a clear stance on his attitude towards his parents. Of course, I understand that a child’s love
for their mother and father can withstand a hurricane of hardships and cruelty,
but the author never steps in to help the reader form an opinion of his
parents. If I can make a guess, I think
Sedaris is closer to his mother for natural human nurturing reasons and because
he most likely appreciates the almost tactical roughness that she put him and
his sisters through. Sedaris is probably
not quite as close with his father because he tends to be a source of
humiliation for his son, like the way he rudely and persistently confronts the
parents of a school bully and asks them for money in the essay “Consider the
Stars.” Sedaris’ father also seems to have wanted to suppress his son’s
homosexuality from a young age, which is becoming more evident as the author
ages throughout the essays. I’m not
willing to make too many assumptions yet; I have much more to read before I can
even come close to drawing conclusions on my current theories.
(Question answered: What confuses or makes you wonder about the text?)
I've read a lot of books where the beginning is extremely confusing. Whenever I read those books, I find that most of the loose ends are cleared up in the end. This book sounds very interesting, though! I haven't read many books that are written in individual essays before. I like the idea of someone writing about everyday life. Everyday life is different for every person, but at the same time, people can easily relate to other individual's lives. I'm not sure how much you've read in the book so far, but I'm sure many of your questions will be answered as you read! :)
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