I read David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in one quick gulp this weekend. I've read most of his other collections of essays, so I looked forward to catching up on his stories of his quirky family and acquaintances.
Corduroy and Denim was a bit disappointing. The best stories, including one about a troubled nine year old girl, had already been printed in the New Yorker. The other essays were either self conscious or poignant. Too many stories in the collection ended with a bitter sweet note of love and regret. Sedaris is best when he is funny and pointless.
The Times's Style Section had an article about the author, J. T. LeRoy. He's a cross-dressing, junkie prostitute who worked at truck stops in West Virginia. I suppose I shouldn't get my book tips from the Style section; Courtney Love is probably not be the best judge of literature. But his story caught my eye and I'm curious. Anybody heard of him?
Since I've started this blog, I've been drawn to autobiographical essay writing. There's a real art to describing the everyday and finding the universal in the mundane. I'm still learning how it's done. As repeatedly remarked, the chick side of the blogosphere has cornered the market on personal style writing on the internet. I wonder how many future authors are honing their craft through the daily blog post.