A while back, I read a novel that is chockfull of
entertaining short stories called “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.” Ranging from his childhood to his
relationships and even to undergoing the process of purchasing real-estate, the
author of the book, David Sedaris, consistently kept me interested in what would
happen in each story next. Plus, after each short story, I was left wondering
how things went after the event that he just ended the chapter with. In the beginning of the novel, a couple humorous
entries about Sedaris’ occasionally reckless youth that I particularly
enjoyed.
In one chapter, Sedaris and his
siblings are locked out of their house and their mother denies them passage, so
they decide to get back at their mother.
After quick contemplation, they elect to go to a busy road and have one
of them get hit by a car. They
legitimately decide to pull this crazy stunt, but fortunately the first car to
drive up to Sedaris’ sister (who is, at the moment, laying down right in the
middle road) turns out to be a family friend, so the kids are saved from their
own foolishness in the end. This short
story entertained me quite a lot.
Sedaris mentions that he was thinking along the lines of “well, once she
finds out one of us got sent to the hospital, she is surely going to feel bad
then.” I have a personal connection to
this memory of Sedaris’. Back when I was
a foolish little boy myself, my friends and I always thought that we could sue
anyone for doing something we didn’t like.
If a teacher talked to us with a rude attitude one day, at lunchtime we
would discuss how we would go about suing her.
In retrospect, however, the majority of short stories in this novel have
ideas that I could definitely find ways to connect to my life. This book makes for a good read for anyone,
and I additionally would recommend it to anyone who enjoys comparing stories
from novels to their own lives.
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