Me Talk Pretty One Day

by

David Sedaris

Mr. Mancini is Sedaris’s guitar teacher, whom Lou Sedaris forces his son to see after deciding that his children should form a family band. Sedaris uses the derogatory term “midget” to refer to Mr. Mancini, who is a little person. Mr. Mancini dresses sharply and speaks about the guitar in sexual terms, instructing Sedaris to treat his instrument as if it’s a woman he’s making love to. This makes Sedaris deeply uncomfortable, but Mr. Mancini doesn’t seem to notice. After seeing Mr. Mancini at the mall one day and watching as a group of teenagers make fun of him because of his height, Sedaris decides to open up to him, feeling an unspoken connection with the man and hoping that he will finally be able to show him what he’s actually interested in—namely, the idea of becoming a singer who sings commercial jingles in the style of Billie Holiday. When he shows Mr. Mancini his routine, though, Mr. Mancini tells him that he doesn’t “swing that way,” thinking that Sedaris is coming on to him. This is so uncomfortable and discouraging that Sedaris later tells his father that Mr. Mancini said he has the wrong kind of fingers to play guitar, enabling him to quit once and for all.

Mr. Mancini Quotes in Me Talk Pretty One Day

The Me Talk Pretty One Day quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Mancini or refer to Mr. Mancini. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Insecurity Theme Icon
).
Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities Quotes

“Seriously, though, it helps if you give your instrument a name. What do you think you'll call yours?”

“Maybe I'll call it Oliver,” I said. That was the name of my hamster, and I was used to saying it.

Then again, maybe not.

“Oliver?” Mister Mancini set my guitar on the floor. “Oliver? What the hell kind of name is that? If you’re going to devote yourself to the guitar, you need to name it after a girl, not a guy.”

“Oh, right,” I said. “Joan. I’ll call it…Joan.”

“So tell me about this Joan,” he said. “Is she something pretty special?”

Joan was the name of one of my cousins, but it seemed unwise to share this information. “Oh yeah,” I said, “Joan’s really…great. She’s tall and…” I felt self-conscious using the word tall and struggled to take it back. “She’s small and has brown hair and everything.”

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Lou Sedaris (Sedaris’s Father), Mr. Mancini
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

[…] I broadened my view and came to see him as a wee outsider, a misfit whose take-it-or-leave-it attitude had left him all alone. This was a persona I’d been tinkering with myself: the outcast, the rebel. It occurred to me that, with the exception of the guitar, he and I actually had quite a bit in common. We were each a man trapped inside a boy’s body. Each of us was talented in his own way, and we both hated twelve-year-old males, a demographic group second to none in terms of cruelty. All things considered, there was no reason I shouldn’t address him not as a teacher but as an artistic brother.

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Mr. Mancini
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:

I knew then why I’d never before sung in front of anyone, and why I shouldn’t have done it in front of Mister Mancini. He'd used the word screwball, but I knew what he really meant. He meant I should have named my guitar Doug or Brian, or better yet, taken up the flute. He meant that if we’re defined by our desires, I was in for a lifetime of trouble.

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Mr. Mancini, Billie Holiday
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Mancini Quotes in Me Talk Pretty One Day

The Me Talk Pretty One Day quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Mancini or refer to Mr. Mancini. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Identity and Insecurity Theme Icon
).
Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities Quotes

“Seriously, though, it helps if you give your instrument a name. What do you think you'll call yours?”

“Maybe I'll call it Oliver,” I said. That was the name of my hamster, and I was used to saying it.

Then again, maybe not.

“Oliver?” Mister Mancini set my guitar on the floor. “Oliver? What the hell kind of name is that? If you’re going to devote yourself to the guitar, you need to name it after a girl, not a guy.”

“Oh, right,” I said. “Joan. I’ll call it…Joan.”

“So tell me about this Joan,” he said. “Is she something pretty special?”

Joan was the name of one of my cousins, but it seemed unwise to share this information. “Oh yeah,” I said, “Joan’s really…great. She’s tall and…” I felt self-conscious using the word tall and struggled to take it back. “She’s small and has brown hair and everything.”

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Lou Sedaris (Sedaris’s Father), Mr. Mancini
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

[…] I broadened my view and came to see him as a wee outsider, a misfit whose take-it-or-leave-it attitude had left him all alone. This was a persona I’d been tinkering with myself: the outcast, the rebel. It occurred to me that, with the exception of the guitar, he and I actually had quite a bit in common. We were each a man trapped inside a boy’s body. Each of us was talented in his own way, and we both hated twelve-year-old males, a demographic group second to none in terms of cruelty. All things considered, there was no reason I shouldn’t address him not as a teacher but as an artistic brother.

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Mr. Mancini
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:

I knew then why I’d never before sung in front of anyone, and why I shouldn’t have done it in front of Mister Mancini. He'd used the word screwball, but I knew what he really meant. He meant I should have named my guitar Doug or Brian, or better yet, taken up the flute. He meant that if we’re defined by our desires, I was in for a lifetime of trouble.

Related Characters: David Sedaris (speaker), Mr. Mancini, Billie Holiday
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis: