74 pages • 2 hours read
David SedarisMe Talk Pretty One Day
Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 20-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part Deux
Chapter 20 Summary: 21 Down
While the crossword puzzle may be a casual pastime for most people, Sedaris takes it very seriously. He starts doing crossword puzzles after witnessing a former boyfriend doing them. Believing that his former boyfriend, being exceedingly handsome, cannot not be both good-looking and smart, he is dismayed to discover that his boyfriend would do the crossword puzzle with great ease. To prove his intelligence, Sedaris wills himself to learn trivia and other miscellaneous world facts in the hope that they might appear as clues in one of his crossword puzzles. His compulsion to do well is so extreme that he makes late night long-distance calls to the U.S. while in France to get the answer to a crossword puzzle clue. He begins to study a reference book called The Order of Things, gifted to him by Amy, when he stumbles upon a list of phobias. He wonders if his obsession with crossword puzzles, specifically the connection between their completion and his self-worth, is a phobia. He jokes that since he cannot find the word for it yet, he would likely discover it in a crossword puzzle one day with the clue, “You, honestly” (203).
Chapter 21 Summary: The City of Light in the Dark
While many travelers may prefer to visit Paris’ most famous landmarks such as the Picasso museum or the cathedral, Sedaris prefers to go to the movies. He argues that this is the best way for one to experience the city. In contrast to American theaters, Paris theaters do not concern themselves with overflowing concession stands, maintaining an austere quality that Sedaris admires. He also notes that while American moviegoers are accustomed to talking and making noise during the movies, he appreciates the silent French audience. He does not miss the U.S. when he can experience its sights through movie portrayals of familiar cityscapes, and concludes that this is when he is most at home.
Chapter 22 Summary: I Pledge Allegiance to the Bag
Sedaris considers what it means to be an “expat” (211) in France while also being held responsible for actions taken by the American government. During Bill Clinton’s impeachment, for example, many of his classmates determine that Americans must be sexually repressed due to the outrage surrounding the scandal. Sedaris acknowledges that he has never thought much about how other countries perceive the U.S. until he returns to his home country briefly to visit. He observes how news segments tend to create scandals of health and sanitation issues. He also notes the ways in which American optimism allows Americans to elide their privilege, citing a news segment he saw once about a program that gave art museum tours to homeless people. While the museum docent seemed positively convinced of the virtues of the program, Sedaris is skeptical since he believes that homeless people would much prefer food to art education. He also comments on American stupidity, citing the many warning signs he saw across the San Diego Zoo that seemed to point out the most obvious cautions, an indicator of a cultural predilection towards lawsuits.
Back in France, Sedaris attempts to explain American customs to a salon owner, Pascal, who asks him about an image of Jodie Foster in a French gossip magazine. In the image, the celebrity is holding an item in one hand that no one in the salon can make out. Sedaris determines that Jodie Foster is holding a bag of dog feces, which is a shock to Pascal and everyone else in the salon. At the chapter’s conclusion, Sedaris is tasked with explaining the American custom of picking up after dogs.
Chapters 20-22 Analysis
The contrast between American and French customs is a tension explored in chapters 21 and 22. As an American living in France, Sedaris experiences a shift in the way he views his home country through his engagement with French life and perspectives. He begins to view American customs unfavorably when he returns to the U.S. for a visit after spending considerable time in France. In chapter 22, Sedaris identifies an “American optimism” (213) that characterizes the country’s prevailing sense of positivity that also simultaneously obscures its social disparities. He also critiques the U.S.’s “unique blend of guilt and hypocrisy” (214) by pointing to the country’s wastefulness despite its environmentally conscious messaging. In chapter 21, Sedaris offers a disclaimer that while he is not “an across-the-board apologist for the French” (208), he admires the sparseness of French theaters which, unlike the excessive presence of concession stands in American theaters, seems to cultivate a more focused and attentive audience. He demonstrates his affiliation towards the French lifestyle when he declares at the end of the chapter that American cities are best experienced on French screens. Of representations of American cities in French theaters, he writes, “It’s like seeing pictures of people I could still sleep with if I wanted to” (209).
In chapter 20, Sedaris uses self-deprecatory humor to explore one of his character flaws, the frailty of his ego and the obsessive-compulsive behavior that accompanies it. His motivation to learn about the world is inspired by self-interest to master crossword puzzles, a skill that he believes is a marker of deep intelligence. He says jokingly, “I’ve been told that crossword puzzles help fight the advance of Alzheimer’s Disease, but that had nothing to do with my initiation” (201). He displays awareness of his obsession by pointing to the extent he would go to publicly display his crossword puzzle abilities. He confesses that he would carry completed crossword puzzles in his wallet in the hope that someone would stop him on the street and ask to see it. The absurdity of his thought process in this instance is occasion for humor.
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