TOW #5- Tasteless

“Tasteless” by David Sedaris via The New Yorker

David Sedaris is an author whose works have frequently been published on popular, credible sources such as National Public Radio and The New Yorker. “Tasteless”, is a reflection on one piece of Sedaris’s life and childhood: his taste buds. Ever since he was younger, Sedaris would only eat in order to fill his stomach. Living in a large family, the author was always worried about not having enough to eat; therefore, he would inhale food rather than slow down to critique the taste. This memoir was published in 2007, and touched on ideas about obesity in America, which has been presently prevalent due to fast food chains and the large portions that many restaurants offer. However, the main purpose of the article would be to allow other people who are also part of a big family to connect to him and his experiences, or to show members of small families what it is like to have a lot of siblings. This is shown through the article’s numerous anecdotes, which provide the audience with examples of what the life of a child in a big family. The reader, most likely used to sharing as well, is able to connect this text to their own lives through these anecdotes, and consider whether or not they agree with the information Sedaris gives in the article. In addition, the text supplies readers who do not know what it is like to have a large family with accurate and descriptive depictions of what it is like to have the constant fear of not having enough food to eat. The anecdotes successfully prove Sedaris’s purpose because they help other people with multiple siblings relate to him and see that they are not alone, but also appeal to people with few or no siblings in order to display what such a life is like.