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Genetic Engineering
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Me Talk Pretty One Day, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Insecurity
Humor, Commentary, and Observation
Class and Belonging
Family, Love, and Support
Summary
Analysis
Sedaris’s sister Gretchen proves her impressive artistic abilities early in life, painting beautiful watercolors. As she goes through school, her teachers heap praise on her. Both of her parents eagerly try to take responsibility for her talent, claiming that she inherited it from them. Inspired by his daughter, Lou sets up an easel, paints a number of landscapes, hangs them on the wall, and then stops painting altogether. Seeing this, Sedaris figures that if his father can paint, he can too, so he tries his own hand at art, though his ambitions have less to do with the actual craft and more to do with his fantasy of one day painting nude male models. He imagines becoming a famous artist who dresses in long scarves, and he relishes this image of himself above all else.
The fact that Sedaris is motivated by jealousy to become an artist is important to note, since it suggests that he tends to measure himself against others. Instead of focusing on the person he already is, he compares himself to people like Gretchen, ultimately indicating that he’s somewhat insecure about himself and unwilling to simply let himself be the person he is.
Themes
When Sedaris leaves for college, he’s relieved to get away from Gretchen’s talent, which makes him outrageously jealous. Deciding to major in art, he worries that he will be too “physically excited” by the nude models in class, but when a model actually comes in to pose, he’s disappointed to discover that she is a woman. Uninspired, he gets frustrated with his lack of ability, so he switches to pottery, making a number of ugly mugs that his mother uses as cat bowls when he gives them to her for Christmas.
Sedaris’s attempt to measure up to his sister Gretchen leads him to pursue a degree in art even though he doesn’t even seem particularly interested in what that might entail. Of course, he likes the idea of drawing nude models, but this is a superficial reason to major in art. Consequently, he has very little to hold on to when he finds himself uninspired by this path. Instead of quitting art altogether and focusing on something he might actually enjoy, though, he takes up pottery, clearly unwilling to let go of the idea of himself as an artist because he has integrated it into his self-image.
Themes
Sedaris transfers to a different college and once again decides to major in art, though he eventually stops going to class and instead spends time with a group of self-proclaimed filmmakers who spend most of their time smoking bongs and watching pretentious movies. Sedaris enjoys this lifestyle but soon drops out because, though he feels quite adept at acting like a genius artist, the school doesn’t offer him any credit for this.
Above all, Sedaris relishes the mere idea of being an artist. This is because it gives him something interesting to which he can attach his identity, lending him an edgy persona that will perhaps hide his insecurities. But because having a pretentious personality doesn’t translate into anything valuable in the real world, he drops out of school—a decision that underscores the extent to which he has prioritized his self-image over all else, since he’s apparently unwilling to let go of his image as a mysterious artist even if it means having to drop out of college.
Themes
Sedaris moves back to North Carolina, renting his own apartment in Raleigh, where he gets into crystal meth and conceptual art—a combination he says is extremely dangerous. As soon as he takes his first dose of speed, he feels instantly rid of all forms of doubt, no longer asking himself questions like, “Am I smart enough?” and “Will people like me?” All of a sudden, he feels very smart, like an artistic visionary. During this time, he starts hanging out with other conceptual artists who are into taking hard drugs. Together, they celebrate art that is nonsensical, the kind of art that doesn’t require “God-given talent” but, rather, moody and provocative ideas.
That Sedaris likes meth because it eliminates self-doubt confirms that he struggles with insecurity. This, it seems, is why he adopted an identity as a misunderstood artist in the first place: an attempt to mask the fact that he’s not comfortable being himself. Now that he’s on drugs, though, he doesn’t worry about such things, and his approach to art completely changes. Because conceptual art is often based on subverting expectation, it doesn’t matter that Sedaris isn’t all that skilled when it comes to executing traditional forms of art. Consequently, he’s able to both indulge his desire to be seen as an artist while disregarding his lack of talent. And all the while, he avoids questions like, “Am I smart enough?” and “Will people like me?”
Themes
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One of Sedaris’s conceptual artist friends is a man who has been building a “nest” for six months. The nest is made of human hair, which the artist collects from local barbershops. In this style, Sedaris starts making his own strange art piece by filling wooden crates with garbage and recording everything he puts in, including toenail clippings, eyelashes found on his sink, and other little pieces of trash he finds around his apartment. Eventually, he takes one of these crates to the local museum and submits it for consideration for one of their upcoming shows. Upon learning that his piece has been accepted, he’s quite excited until he realizes that all of his friends were rejected by the museum. Because of this, they speak disparagingly about his art, suggesting that their own proposals were more avant-garde and meaningful than his.
Sedaris has finally found ad context in which he fits in, even if this means creating art with which very few people will engage—and doing so alongside people who don’t actually appreciate him or his artwork. To that end, his so-called friends don’t even feel happy for him when he manages to get his odd art piece accepted by the local museum, instead disparaging him because they’re jealous. This suggests that Sedaris’s new peers are just as insecure as him. It also indicates that these people are less interested in supporting him than in gaining recognition for themselves. In turn, it becomes clear that Sedaris’s new social circle isn’t all that rewarding, even if he’s capable of convincing himself otherwise by taking drugs.
Themes
At the museum exhibition, none of Sedaris’s friends come to see his work. The only people who do come to support him are his drug dealer and his mother. At one point, he hears his mother drunkenly tell the curator that she told a woman in the bathroom a joke about the art. “Honey, why flush it?” Sedaris’s mother said to this woman. “Carry it into the next room and they’ll put it on a goddamn pedestal.” Two months later, when the museum gives Sedaris his crate back, he burns it—an act that his friends respect. From that point on, he focuses on participating in his friends’ performance art pieces. Because they are all on speed, the performances make perfect sense to them, though anybody who’s sober would have no idea what to make of these odd and disturbing showcases.
Sedaris continues to posture as a mysterious, smart, misunderstood artist, though people like his mother make it difficult for him to ignore the fact that his output is bizarre and inaccessible (though it is to her credit that she at least comes to the museum to support him in the first place). No matter what anyone else says, Sedaris believes in the value of what he’s doing, largely because he’s on drugs that help him ignore any kind of insecurity. In this condition, it’s easy for him to participate in ridiculous performance art pieces that mean nothing even though he and his friends think they’re doing something extraordinary.
Themes
Sedaris invites his parents to one of his friends’ performance art pieces that takes place in an old abandoned warehouse. Instead of complimenting the two-and-a-half hour show, though, they complain about the fact that they had to sit on the hard floor for so long, and this upsets him, though he decides that their inability to appreciate the show simply means that he and his friends are “ahead of [their] time.”
Sedaris’s belief that he and his friends are “ahead of [their] time” underlines the self-aggrandizing nature of his artwork. He invites his parents to see the performance art piece, implying that he cares about their opinions and wants to show them what he’s been working on. However, as soon as it becomes clear that they don’t like this kind of art, he writes them off, choosing to believe that he’s simply more intelligent than the average person. This, of course, is a reversal of how he would feel if he weren’t on drugs—after all, one of the main reasons he takes drugs in the first place is to silence questions like, “Am I smart enough?”
Themes
Sedaris’s friend group begins to splinter when the person who directed the first performance piece develops an idea for a new show and everyone gets upset that they always have to do his ideas instead of theirs. As the group disassembles, Sedaris is invited by the museum to participate in a performance art festival; he agrees to do it for “political reasons.” In reality, he says yes because he needs drug money. Trying hard to come up with ideas, he realizes that it’s hard to put together a show, even when everything is abstract and strange. When the performance piece takes place, he is extremely high on speed and is freaked out that everybody is watching him. Step by step, he tries to calm himself down by reminding himself what he’s supposed to be doing, thinking, “I’m slicing this pineapple now,” and, “Next I’ll just rip apart these sock monkeys[…].”
The fact that Sedaris’s friend group disbands so easily suggests that they weren’t very close in the first place. Unlike many communities of artists, these people are clearly more interested in taking drugs and talking about their own self-indulgent ideas than actually supporting one another. Despite this discouraging turn of events, Sedaris continues to make conceptual art. At this point, though, the only reason he does so is to earn drug money to fuel his addiction. With this in mind, he creates a nonsensical performance art piece that is so strange that even he seems to question its worth.
Themes
Getting on his knees and preparing to cut his own hair in front of the audience, Sedaris hears a voice say, “Just take a little off the back and sides.” The audience titters with laughter, and Sedaris realizes that the voice belongs to his father. Encouraged by the laughter, Lou continues to make humorous remarks, eventually saying that Sedaris actually should open a barbershop because it’s clear he’s “not going anywhere in the show-business world.” Everyone laughs. Furious, Sedaris thinks about how his father has no clue how people are supposed to act in art museums. After the show, though, the curator congratulates him, praising him for thinking to include his father in the piece. The curator adds that the show really improved when Sedaris “loosened up and started making fun of” himself.
On some level, even Sedaris can tell that his performance is ridiculous and meaningless. Still, though, he’s justifiably infuriated when his father ridicules him in front of an entire audience. This moment illustrates the nature of their father-son relationship, as Lou fails to appreciate Sedaris’s interests. And yet, Lou also adds a bit of levity to an otherwise dreary show, thereby helping his son. Of course, he does this in a misguided, frustrating way, but the overall effect is a positive one, since everybody appreciates his remarks and assumes that he was part of the show. This, in turn, is a perfect representation of his approach to fatherhood: he supports his children, but his own terms.
Themes
Emboldened by audience compliments after Sedaris’s show, Lou starts suggesting ideas for Sedaris’s next show. One day, he calls Sedaris and suggests an idea, and Sedaris responds by saying he’d rather put a gun to his head than hear more of his father’s proposals. Thinking this over, Lou says, “The bit with the gun just might work. Let me think about it and get back to you.” Shortly thereafter, though, Sedaris’s performance art career comes to an end when his drug dealer decides to go to rehab. Sedaris tries to convince her that she doesn’t need rehab, fearing that he won’t be able to finish a performance piece he’s been commissioned to do. Try as he might to dissuade her, though, his drug dealer leaves, and Sedaris loses his will to create.
Again, readers see the ways in which Lou’s overbearing style of parenting frustrates Sedaris. Of course, Lou is only trying to help him, but he fails to recognize that Sedaris sees his suggestions as intrusions on his creative process (however meager that creative process is in the first place). When Sedaris’s drugs run out, though, this problem goes away because he no longer has the will to create performance art, thereby confirming that his interest in conceptual art was fueled not by true artistic passion, but by a drug-infused desire to posture as a creative and intelligent artist.
Themes
An unidentified amount of time passes. Sedaris recovers from the withdrawals he experienced after ceasing his meth habit. Still, he continues to attend performance art shows, but he doesn’t know why because he no longer enjoys them or, for that matter, sees merit in them. After watching a show in which a woman gorges herself on sickening amounts of food, he darts out into the evening and walks home, glad to be sober and happy that he no longer tries to find deeper meaning in the abstract, disparate parts of life.
On the surface, this essay is about Sedaris’s experience as an artist. However, it’s also about his journey to overcome drug addiction and, moreover, his attempt to find himself as a young man. And though he hasn’t necessarily determined who, exactly, he wants to be, he at least manages to leave behind some of his insecurities, enabling him to stop posturing as somebody he isn’t.
Themes
