Where are the David Sedaris haters hanging out online?
June 12, 2024 8:26 AM Subscribe
I just read the newest David Sedaris essay in the New Yorker about his experience going on safari, and I found it annoying. For many reasons, including the general narrowing of his viewpoint over the decades, his "humorous" description of cultural appropriation as sort of a shrugging, oh I've never known what it really is, like putting blue cheese on tacos, etc. Are there any comment sections or threads or recent essays criticizing his later work?
I read the New Yorker through the Libby app so I don't have access to their website's subscriber features. Thank you for any suggestions!
I read the New Yorker through the Libby app so I don't have access to their website's subscriber features. Thank you for any suggestions!
I bet if you made a loosely framed post on the Blue to create a space to hate on David Sedaris you would get a fair few takers.
posted by phunniemee at 8:59 AM on June 12 [27 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 8:59 AM on June 12 [27 favorites]
Best answer: There's a decent piece on Pajiba from last November.
posted by guessthis at 9:17 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
posted by guessthis at 9:17 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
The original Santaland Diaries was amusing, so I read a few of his essays. I found them annoying, but given his popularity I thought I was missing something, so I read a few more. I realized I was missing both 1) whatever makes some people find Sedaris charming and 2) the ability to trust my own taste.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:30 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:30 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
Covid-twitter was pretty upset over his encouraging his cautious friend to unmask ... and then she got covid.
posted by armacy at 9:47 AM on June 12 [4 favorites]
posted by armacy at 9:47 AM on June 12 [4 favorites]
No, she's even more annoying.
His essay at the end of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004) is about travel in Japan. He said he went there to quit smoking, but I never heard if it worked or not. Did he ever say?
Then I read his essay about North Carolina and going back to the same beach house every year, and there was some issue so he just made an offer and bought the house. At this point, I realized I could no longer relate to him, and no longer read anything he wrote/writes.
But I don't hate him.
posted by Rash at 10:15 AM on June 12
His essay at the end of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004) is about travel in Japan. He said he went there to quit smoking, but I never heard if it worked or not. Did he ever say?
Then I read his essay about North Carolina and going back to the same beach house every year, and there was some issue so he just made an offer and bought the house. At this point, I realized I could no longer relate to him, and no longer read anything he wrote/writes.
But I don't hate him.
posted by Rash at 10:15 AM on June 12
Criticism isn't hate. I enjoy a podcast that amusingly dunks on bad movies, it's fun.
Agree! If MetaFilter had a sub-site that was just pointing out all the stupidest shit about your favorite music, I would basically only engage with that from now on.
posted by kensington314 at 10:31 AM on June 12 [7 favorites]
Agree! If MetaFilter had a sub-site that was just pointing out all the stupidest shit about your favorite music, I would basically only engage with that from now on.
posted by kensington314 at 10:31 AM on June 12 [7 favorites]
If all you're really looking for is validation for finding Sedaris's writing vapid, charmless and a bit cringe, consider yourself validated.
posted by flabdablet at 10:55 AM on June 12 [15 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:55 AM on June 12 [15 favorites]
Are there any comment sections or threads or recent essays criticizing his later work?
Metafilter: cite | cite
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:04 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: cite | cite
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:04 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]
Mod note: A few deletions made. Please stick to answering the question.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:12 AM on June 12
posted by loup (staff) at 11:12 AM on June 12
I didn’t realize he’d become such a crank, but the oft-repeated plate of chicken/plate of shit metaphor dunking on the “stupidity” of trump voters* struck me as both crude and clueless. It was unexpected at first, but on reading more, I see how on brand it is. If you threw him into a free post, I’d come and help kick.
*not saying I necessarily agree with them, but there’s a certain logic that I can respect.
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:31 PM on June 12
*not saying I necessarily agree with them, but there’s a certain logic that I can respect.
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:31 PM on June 12
Jeez, after reading his Vice interview about Tiffany Sedaris just now, my feelings about David Sedaris really shifted. He seems unbelievably callous and cruel towards her. It looks pretty clear that she experienced horrible abuse, certainly at the boarding school but likely before as well. How interesting that David can't seem to look at her life with any empathy or perspective. This Medium post was heartbreaking. Even just the photos at the top of the two pieces make my stomach drop to the floor. She looks so frightened and alone as a little girl, and then the whole family is just... having fun without her while she suffers at an abusive boarding school.
It also sucks that he claims she was a sex worker in the Vice piece, which seems designed only to smear her since he actually says other things later in the piece that seem to counter that claim. I'm no shrink, but in people I know, I've observed that those 'Cluster B traits' often come along as a trauma response after childhood sexual abuse. When he talks about her bringing home a backpack that possibly had a tape recorder hidden in it, and repeatedly trying to bait their father into calling her sexy, well, that stood out to me.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:08 AM on June 13 [2 favorites]
It also sucks that he claims she was a sex worker in the Vice piece, which seems designed only to smear her since he actually says other things later in the piece that seem to counter that claim. I'm no shrink, but in people I know, I've observed that those 'Cluster B traits' often come along as a trauma response after childhood sexual abuse. When he talks about her bringing home a backpack that possibly had a tape recorder hidden in it, and repeatedly trying to bait their father into calling her sexy, well, that stood out to me.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:08 AM on June 13 [2 favorites]
Mod note: And again, a couple deleted. Answers only please.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 11:09 PM on June 13
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 11:09 PM on June 13
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posted by BungaDunga at 8:51 AM on June 12 [2 favorites]