There may be a turkey on the cover of Amy Sedaris’ new book, but don’t expect to find a detailed recipe for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner inside her unique guide to entertaining.
No, Sedaris’ “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence” is a reference for blind dates, entertaining the elderly and hosting a team of lumberjacks for lunch:
“I wrote down what challenging situations would be for a hostess, like entertaining old people or grieving people or children,” the 45-year-old comedian said. “I realized I didn’t have any holidays in it, but I figure there are enough books out there on holidays.”
There’s a chapter, for example, on grieving that includes appropriate things to say: “She lived a good life” – and the inappropriate: “Was he drinking?” The book mixes recipes with those random bits of advice, as well as photos and memorabilia from Sedaris’ childhood, including a piece of wallpaper that makes up the background for a wreath-shaped meat loaf.
“I just think if you’re going to have an entertainment book, it should be somewhat entertaining and not so boring,” she said.
Thus Sedaris’ introduction to the chapter on “Entertaining the Elderly” is written in oversized print and includes a chart explaining how to substitute herbal remedies for prescription drugs. The chapter on “Cooking Under the Influence” lists the 25 top foods to cure the munchies, alongside a photo of Sedaris holding a bong.
Sedaris, a frequent guest on CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman,” is perhaps best known for her role as Jerri Blank on the Comedy Central show “Strangers with Candy,” which was turned into a feature film earlier this year.
She is also known as the sister of David Sedaris, the noted comic author and frequent contributor to public radio. The family grew up in Raleigh, N.C., and many of the book’s recipes originated with mother, Sharon, who died of cancer in 1991.
She fixed three dinners every night – one for the children, one for their diabetic grandmother, and one for their father, Lou, “who was always on a diet,” Sedaris said.
The book (Warner Books, $27.99) has charted on nonfiction best-seller lists and received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, which called it “an outrageous and deadpan delight, greatly enhanced by her deliriously kitschy illustrations and photos.”
Just forget about help for the holidays.
Sedaris’ recipe for the traditional Thanksgiving meal is called “Amy’s Turkey and Grave-y” and is included in the section on grieving: “Roast a turkey until the internal thermometer pops out.”
For pumpkin pie: “Directions are on back of can. Follow that. Make festive silhouettes using some cookie cutters. Place on the pie after it’s been in the oven for 15 minutes.”
“What am I going to do? Try to rewrite it and fake it? I was like, no, that’s got to be out of the can,” Sedaris said. “Some things are just supposed to be that way. I always make my pumpkin pie out of the can. Always.”
Sedaris herself had been invited a few places for Thanksgiving dinner this year, but planned instead to stay at home at her Manhattan apartment and catch-up on all the things her entertaining keeps her from.
“I need to clean, do laundry, pay bills, finish making crafts to sell at a craft fair coming up in Brooklyn, find my winter clothes, get thank you letters in the mail and memorize some lines,” she said. “My neighborhood is very quiet on Thanksgiving, so it would be really nice to spend it alone and be thankful that I can.”
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