Saturday, July 9, 2011


Review of the latest by David Sedaris squirrel seeks chipmunk





I give it an A.  I have read all of his books and have long been a fan.  Ever since I first happened upon a copy of Barrel Fever, I realized this guy was great.  I was starting to sense a tail off—honestly the last couple seemed to lack the energetic sarcasm that dripped from the initial efforts.

But this—very witty and insightful.  It is both funny and poignant which Sedaris used to be and apparently still can be.  I highly suggest picking it up—very quick read.  Just around 100 pamphlet-sized pages, the whole thing can be read in a sitting but you may want to break your reading of all of the stories out over a few days to try and absorb the new-style aphorisms he is dishing out at a better pace.

Here are a few of the choice morals he chose with the 25+ stories

  1. Unfortunately when at work (which is most of our waking hours) our opinions are not just useless, but also counterproductive—when at work you should really use your mouth exclusively for kissing ass
  2. Everyone’s ethnocentricity comes out when they travel but Americans seem like such assholes mostly because we are.
  3. Although things usually work out for the best, our vanity keeps us hanging on to dramatic representations of how we feel the world wronged us. (this may have been my favorite of the stories)
  4. We are all hypocrites yet we rarely hesitate to call someone else out on this whenever it suits us.
  5.  There is always someone worse off, and no one wants to hear your problems so shut the fuck up.
And of course, there are many more.  If you ever liked a Sedaris book in the past you'll love this book.
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Links

50 Great Movies

(movies listed in italics are available for instant streaming on Netflix if you subscribe to that)


Comedies (15)

Borat

(2006, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian)

(Sacha Baron Cohen)


Talladega Nights

(2006, Adam McKay)

(Will Ferrell)


Anchorman

(2004)

(Will Ferrell)


Rushmore

(1998, Wes Anderson)

(Jason Schwartzman)


The Big Lebowski

(1998) (Jeff Bridges)


There’s Something About Mary

(1998, Farrelly bros)

(Ben Stiller)


Austin Powers

(1997) (Mike Myers)


Happy Gilmore

(1996) (Adam Sandler)


Tommy Boy

(1995) (Chris Farley)


Bottle Rocket

(1994, Wes Anderson)

(Owen+Luke Wilson)


Greedy

(1994, Jonathan Lynn)

(Michael J Fox)


The Naked Gun

(1988, David Zucker)

(Leslie Neilsen)


Raising Arizona

(1987, Joel Coen)

(Nicolas Cage)


Three Amigos!

(1986)

(Chevy Chase, Steve Martin)


Stripes

(1981, Ivan Reitman)

(Bill Murray)


Non-comedic (35)


Slumdog Millionaire

(2008, Danny Boyle)

(Dev Patel)


No Country for Old Men

(2007, Coen bros)

(Javier Bardem)


The Departed

(2006, Martin Scorsese)

(Leonardo DiCaprio)


Syriana

(2005, Stephen Gaghan)

(George Clooney)


Brokeback Mountain

(2005, Ang Lee)

(Heath Ledger)


Walk The Line

(2005) (Joaquin Phoenix)


Crash

(2005, Paul Haggis)

(Sandra Bullock)


Mystic River

(2003, Clint Eastwood)

(Sean Penn)


Traffic

(2000, Steven Soderbergh)

(Benicio Del Toro)


Unbreakable

(2000, M. Night Shyamalan)

(Bruce Willis)


The Matrix

(1999, Wachowski bros)

(Keanu Reeves)


Man on the Moon

(1999) (Jim Carrey)


Saving Private Ryan

(1998, Steven Spielberg)

(Tom Hanks)


Boogie Nights

(1997, Paul Thomas Anderson)

(Marky Mark)


Starship Troopers

(1997) (Denise Richards)


Good Will Hunting

(1997, Gus Van Sant)

(Matt Damon)


Braveheart

(1995, Mel Gibson)

(Mel Gibson)


The Usual Suspects

(1995, Brian Singer)

(Kevin Spacey)


The Shawshank Redemption

(1994, Frank Darabont)

(Tim Robbins)



Schindler's List

(1993, Steven Spielberg)

(Liam Neeson)


Unforgiven

(1992, Clint Eastwood)

(Clint Eastwood)


Glengarry Glen Ross

(1992, James Foley)

(Al Pacino)


JFK

(1991, Oliver Stone)

(Kevin Costner)


Boyz 'N the Hood

(1991, John Singleton)

(Ice Cube)


The Silence of the Lambs

(1991, Jonathan Demme)

(Anthony Hopkins)


Goodfellas

(1990, Martin Scorsese)

(Robert DeNiro)


La Bamba

(1987) (Lou Diamond Phillips)


Full Metal Jacket

(1987, Stanley Kubrick)

(Mathew Modine)


Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

(1982) (William Shatner)


Raiders of the Lost Ark

(1981, Steven Spielberg)

(Harrison Ford)


Superman II

(1980) (Christopher Reeve)


Apocalypse Now

(1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

(Martin Sheen)


Slaughterhouse Five

(1972) (Michael Sacks)


The Godfather

(1972, Francis Ford Coppola)

(Marlon Brando)


A Clockwork Orange

(1971, Stanley Kubrick)

(Malcolm McDowell)