"City of Angels" and "Shiner Like a Diamond" are the two I'm responsible for today. I thought it was interesting in "City of Angels" that Sedaris brought over a couple of his female friends up to stay with him for a few days. I'm too lazy to figure out when exactly these events are taking place, if they said it in the reading I must have missed it. But, how exactly... accepted was homosexuality back then? If this is recent enough, this shouldn't really matter anymore I guess, but I'm pretty sure a few decades ago the situation wasn't the same. How acceptable was it for a girl to have a gay, guy friend? While I'm on the subject, how is his family taking this? He hasn't ever talked about what his parents have to say about him being gay at all throughout the entire book.
My favorite part of "City of Angels" was reading about that noob "Bonnie." I've been in Sedaris' shoes before, believe it or not. I was in Alexandria a few years ago, and I had a couple of guests here from the States staying with us for a week or so. I remember how much of a pain in the ass it was, (mind you, they were here from Cedar Rapids, and Alexandria is a MASSIVE city, in a totally different country). They literally just had NO CLUE what was going on.
As far as the Shiner one goes, it was really entertaining to read about all the stupid shit that his sister Amy's done in her life. I think its funny that his father cares so much about how his daughters look so they can get married and "lead happy lives", which again ties into what I was saying earlier. How "old school" so to speak are Sedaris' parents, and why haven't we been told how they're reacting to their son's situation. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how things unfold in the future.
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Obi you make a good point about Sedaris' father not making a big deal about his son being gay. Im not exactly sure why sedaris has left this out of the book, but notice that the book as actually dedicated to his father. It does not add up in my opinion. Also why is his sister so crazy? Dressing up in odd costumes is just a bit loopy.
ReplyDeleteThe outsider in New York city was just a bitch. That is all I have to say about that.
i personally didnt really like this pair of essays. i wasnt so much the content though, it was the subjects it was about. the fact there father is so obsessed with his daughters appearence bothers me. i mean who in there right mind would say that kinda stuff to there daughters. no wonder amy is so messed up. id have problems too if my dad was like wow you look awfully fat today u should go for a run. it is funny though how she basically gets back at him for all of it though.
ReplyDeleteand yes, that lady that comes with his friend is a total bitch. it pissed me off so much when she said all those things and how she just dictated everything that they did. my grandma is EXACTLY like that, and it drives me absolutely crazy. i was about to throw the book it was pissing me off so bad
Well I'm assuming this took place in the 80's. I think it was acceptable for a girl to have a gay friend but it is kinda weird that he hasn't really discussed how his family reacted to his homosexuality. Maybe he'll talk about it in a later essay, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteI thought these two essays were decent at best. "Shiner like a Diamond" was kinda strange. Pretty weird how his sister, Amy, would rebel against her dad by making herself look unattractive. As for "City of Angels", I think Patriotnations nailed it on the head.
I don't think David Sedaris's parents made a big deal about him being gay, otherwise it would've been mentioned. Considering everything else he's talked about I can't seem him hiding any details he thought were important in his life. His parents might not have liked the fact that he was gay, but this kid was like that from the begenning. There really wasn't much that they could do about it.
ReplyDeleteI thought the stuff about his sister Amy was pretty funny. My favorite part was when Sedaris was getting on the Subway and his siter wishes him good look beating the rape charge so everyone could hear it.
About a girl having a gay friend in this paticular time period, I don't know how socially acceptable this was but the one that stayed at his place was a lesbian. And yes that bitch that was staying at his place pissed me off too. Considering just reading about her made me want to strangle her, I can't imagine actually having someone like that stay at my place for a week. I'm kind of surpised David didn't snap on her. I know I would've.