Instead of learning a lesson about humility-instead of accepting without embarrassment that everyone defecates-he focuses on guessing who left the poop in the toilet. With this in mind, he ends the essay with the following line: “I resolved to put it all behind me, and then I stepped outside to begin examining the suspects.” The final part of this sentence contradicts Sedaris’s newfound resolution to put this experience behind him. Eventually, though, he manages to flush it down, and as he washes his hands, he wonders if there’s a lesson to be learned here about humility or vanity, thinking that he shouldn’t care so much if others think he left the poop in the toilet. He frets that, if he’s unable to flush, the others will think he’s the one responsible for what’s in the toilet-a thought that mortifies him. Trying again and again, he begins to panic, realizing that he’s been in the bathroom for quite some time. Appalled that somebody would leave this, he tries to flush it, but it won’t go down. When he enters the bathroom, though, he finds an enormous poop in the toilet. He announces to his friends that he has to use the restroom, intending to pee and quickly return. A perfect example of this formula is the way Sedaris structures “Big Boy,” an essay in which he recounts visiting the bathroom while attending an Easter dinner at a friend’s house. These concluding lines often undercut the message Sedaris has built throughout the essay, contradicting any resolution he may have made in the preceding pages.

As a result, these essays reorient readers in their own perspectives, and though the vast majority of the pieces lack any kind of overarching moral, the very absence of greater meaning suggests that life is worth examining regardless of the circumstances-even if just to laugh about these circumstances.įrom a craft perspective, the vast majority of the essays in Me Talk Pretty One Day culminate in something like a punchline. This, in turn, encourages readers to second-guess or reevaluate things they might otherwise take for granted. Most often, he does this by unveiling the various absurdities that people tend to overlook in their daily lives, making even the most ordinary occurrence suddenly seem ridiculous and illogical. Whether Sedaris is writing about an awkward situation at a party or the distorted perceptions people have about other cultures, his attention to life’s details renders him uniquely capable of taking something familiar and helping readers see it anew.

David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of anecdotal essays, most of which have the same simple goal: to provide humorous commentary about everyday life and human behavior.

Sedaris me talk pretty