Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities Essay - 622 Words

David Sedaris writes about his experience taking guitar lessons in â€Å"Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities† after his father decided that he and his younger sisters should start a family music group. However, Sedaris has no desire to learn how to play guitar. His desire lies within singing jingles in the voice of Billie Holiday. Sedaris’ desire to sing in the voice of Billie Holiday is probably closely related to his sexual orientation, being gay, and his father’s passion for jazz music. There is an implication of femininity in Sedaris’ desire to mimic Billie Holiday’s voice. Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer whose career took off in the 1930s. Some would find it peculiar as to why any young boy would want to imitate the voice of†¦show more content†¦I’d done my solo and would now move on to pursue other equally unsuccessful ways of getting attention.† Singing in the voice of Billie Holiday seemed to be one of the few ways Sedaris thought he could express his feminine side comfortably. Unfortunately for him, being shot down by Mancini caused him to dispose of such a dream. Sedaris’ desire to sing like Billie Holiday can also be linked to his father’s passion for jazz music. His father loved jazz music almost to the point of obsessive-compulsiveness, where he’d sit down and analyze each note and the timing of the jazz songs playing on his record player, and although Sedaris claims to also love jazz, it wasn’t enough to convince his father. â€Å"Because it was the music we’d grown up with, I liked to think that my sisters and I had a genuine appreciation of jazz. We preferred it over the music our friends were listening to, yet nothing we did or said could convince my father of our devotion,† (p. 17) writes Sedaris. Singing like Billie Holiday might have been a way for Sedaris to be closer to his father, or at least allow the two of them to bond in a way based on a common interest. Because of the controversy about homosexuals, Sedaris probably wasn’t open about his sexuality with his father, thus not feeling close to him. In singing in the style of Billie Holiday, one could assume that it could be appreciated by any lover of jazz, such asShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities By David Sedaris Essay2058 Words   |  9 PagesExpository Essay Analysis: â€Å"Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities David Sedaris is a popular comedic autobiographer who delivers intelligent and slightly embellished satirical content inspired from his memoirs and personal experiences. Sedaris’s short story â€Å"Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities†, is a magnificent mastery of his humorous writing style. The story is about David’s experience of him and his sisters being forced to take music lessons because of their father’s maniacal obsession to start a family jazzRead MoreThe Concept Of Misfits In Me Talk Pretty One Day By David Sedaris729 Words   |  3 PagesSedarises are the ones who are constantly with him and understand him well enough to put aside his abrasive language. Sedaris further explores the complexity of those who are misfits of society with his essay, Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities. Mister Mancini, Sedaris’ guitar teacher, was a midget. Sedaris describes his teacher in a way that makes him seem crass and unlikeable, but when he sees Mancini at the mall one day, his perception of his guitar teacher alters. Seeing Mancini be gawked at in theRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pages -gbe à  kà  mà ¹ n. n. -do à  kanya -tá » ¥ à  kanya -tá » ¥ á » ¥nÃ… Ã¯â‚¬ § akanya n. n. n. n. n. à  kà  rà   à  kà  sà ¬Ã¯â‚¬ ¬ à  kà  taà  kà   à  kà  tà  kpo à  kà ¨le aká »â€¹lá »â€¹ka be distant, far, remote; be long (in time) kind of bead worn round neck; necklace; bead worn on wrist by renowned men dwarf; midget (cf. à  kà  kpà ²Ã¯â‚¬ ¥) male palace dwarf associated with EzÄ“ Ç ¸rà ¬ jigger; animal tick insect seen on unscrubbed mud floors year last year; old times; days of old pangolin, whose skin is used for medicine mockery; humiliation humiliate; disgrace: á »Å' bá » ¥lá » ¥ nà   nwokÄ“