I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

by Amy Sedaris

Overview

The inspiration for the TV show At Home with Amy Sedaris, here is a hilarious, helpful, and informative guide on how to entertain.

Are you lacking direction in how to whip up a swanky soiree for lumberjacks? A dinner party for white-collar workers? A festive gathering for the grieving? Don't despair!

Take a cue from entertaining expert Amy Sedaris and host an unforgettable fete that will have your guests raving. No matter the style or size of the gathering - from the straightforward to the bizarre - I LIKE YOU provides jackpot recipes and solid advice laced with Amy's blisteringly funny take on entertaining, plus four-color photos and enlightening sidebars on everything it takes to pull off a party with extraordinary flair.

You don't even need to be a host or hostess to benefit - Amy offers tips for guests, too! (Rule number one: don't be fifteen minutes early.) Readers will discover unique dishes to serve alcoholics ("Broiled Frozen Chicken Wings with Applesauce"), the secret to a successful children's party (a half-hour time limit, games included), plus a whole appendix chock-full of arts and crafts ideas (from a mini-pantyhose plant-hanger to a do-it-yourself calf stretcher), and much, much more!

"In A t Home with Amy Sedaris, Ms. Sedaris offers deliriously twisted takes on the homemaking skills she skewered in her books I Like You and Simple Times." — The New York Times

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446696777
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/22/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	532,694
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Amy Sedaris has appeared in several movies and television shows, and, with Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, is a co-author of the novel Wigfield. She also co-wrote Strangers with Candy, the hit show on Comedy Central. She lives in Manhattan.

Editorial Reviews

"Clinically simple" may not be the mots justes here — "preposterously resourceful" is more like it. After all, we’re talking about a hostess who, for 25 cents, will laminate her party guests’ baby pictures or customize their cigarette lighters by wrapping them insticky shelf paper. She suggests using both an espresso spoon to curl eyelashes and Milk of Magnesia as a face mask. She offers four ideas for repurposing pantyhose, including a plant hanger, a bath sachet and a somewhatterrifying beauty aid she calls an "eye burrito." In short, I’m not sure what this author needs more — a round of applause or a fully licensed professional to sit her down and tell her all about lithium.
— The New York Times

Henry Alford

There's no way around it: Sedaris fans are going to have to buy both her lavishly illustrated book and her audiobook adaptation. No one should be forced to decide between enjoying the visual delights of her kitschy photo-filled book or the aural pleasures of Sedaris's wonderfully exuberant narration. The rubber-faced comedienne proves equally limber vocally with her quicksilver changes from perfect deadpan to goofy dialects. The jaunty musical score and quirky sound effects enhance the production and complement her narration. Sedaris sounds like she's throwing a party in the studio and listeners would be foolish not to RSVP. The fourth disc contains a PDF file with all 76 recipes for her "15-minute meals in 20 minutes," which were read aloud on the previous discs, in addition to 70 more "Jackpot Recipes." A truly delightful audiobook. Simultaneous release with the Warner hardcover (Reviews, July 17). (Nov.)

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

In this first solo publishing effort, playwright and comedic actress Sedaris (coauthor, The Book of Liz) shares with readers her collection of quirky, idiosyncratic tips on entertaining garnered from her mom, Girl Scouts, waiting tables, bartending school, and other eclectic sources. Though the lion's share of the book is devoted to what she calls her "personal jackpot recipes" (for such colorfully named dishes as "Brenda's Vulgar Barbeque Sauce"), Sedaris also includes creative ideas for themed parties, instructions for wacky craft projects (mostly made out of retired pantyhose), and advice on gift-giving for everyone from nuns, priests, and children to the divorced man in the office and women in early menopause. Bearing in mind that the book's subtitle refers to substances the author euphemistically calls "party enhancers," public libraries will no doubt find an audience for this wild and irreverent guide. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/06.] Deborah Ebster, Univ. of Central Florida Libs., Orlando Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Aw shucks, Amy Sedaris, we like you too. Here is yet another charming, albeit slight, book by the comedian/author (sister of David Sedaris), who has cooked up a very funny book that, in some strange way, actually sometimes gives good advice on entertaining guests. Of course, a person would have to be as quirky as Amy to take the book seriously. After all, she doesn’t really lay out trinkets to sell to her guests whenever she throws a bash, right? Then again...Sedaris reads her own work, which is only logical since no one else could do it justice. With her slight Southern twang, she delivers a breezy, witty winner. And includes a whole bunch of recipes. What more could you ask for? M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile