1/29/07: Amy Sedaris: I Like You (Warner Books; 2006)

Sarah Silverman has a sitcom that’s about to debut on Comedy Central, so she’s been doing lots of interviews. Those who don’t recall may remember Sarah Silverman as the stand-up comedienne with the AIDS jokes that audiences are allowed to find funny. Don’t ask why they’re funny. Then you might look like you don’t have a sense of humor.

Anyway, Silverman did an interview where she bragged about “a role reversal where the liberals are the un-p.c.” That’s no surprise to conservatives, of course. We’ve grown accustomed to the Left embracing racist attitudes and fervent anti-Semitism. Don’t forget misogyny, either. It’s perfectly okay for good Leftist comics to try to degrade Condoleezza Rice through her sexuality. The most recent example we caught was on NBC’s 30 Rock a few weeks ago.

(30 Rock, incidentally, is from former Saturday Night Live head writer Tina Fey. As some conservatives finally discovered last week, SNL now offers an occasional goof on the Left now that Seth Meyers has replaced the departed Fey as both a head writer and “Weekend Update” anchorman.)

Comics like Silverman—and did we mention her 9/11 jokes?—are why we haven't expected much from Amy Sedaris. She’s from the same hipster school of alt-comedy. We enjoyed her Strangers With Candy sitcom on Comedy Central, but mainly because Sedaris’ loathsome character seemed the pathetic offspring of failed Leftist policies. (She played a 46-year-old ex-junkie returning to high school.) Still, Strangers seemed to lack any real philosophy. Same goes for the big-screen version (barely) released last year.

In that spirit, I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence was a pleasant surprise. Sedaris’ guide to hosting fun parties and making arts & crafts is actually more reverent than James Lileks’ own fun takes on the same. Yes, she’s prone to making cracks about how her party plans are “charmingly old-fashioned, like courtship or back alley abortions.” That’s no big deal. Lileks has said worst things while ordering a round of sundaes at Swensen’s.

I Like You isn’t for sharing with the kids. It’s still a pleasant look at classic social mores for hipsters who want to celebrate America’s wholesome past even as they deal with the scum of the earth. Sedaris provides a nice balance. Anyone who’s dated a kitsch-crazed gal knows how rare that can be.

Still, we weren’t sure we were reading something right for RightWingTrash until we got to the final pages. Sedaris includes a “Be Prepared” guide that’s certainly reliable. There are a few hidden gags, but we take her list of things to Always Have very seriously:

        Spare keys
        Flashlight with extra batteries
        Matches
        Water
        Money jar
        Landline phone
        Candles
        Backup medication
        Firearm
        A good book to read

As the ideal hostess would likely agree, it’s the little things that count.

Make it your own: I Like You came out recently enough that the book’s only available in hardback. It’s a nice design, though, and male readers will want the edition that offers the largest versions of Sedaris’ MILFish cheesecake poses. She does wonders for pantyhose.

Here’s Sedaris’ semi-official fan website, where you’ll probably find some kind of Leftist rant from her that invalidates this entire entry. And if you haven’t seen them, check out James Lileks' books. They’re surprisingly unsentimental.

 

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