Running head: SEDARIS VS.

COFER 1
Sedaris vs. Cofer
Kurtis W Ward
DeVry niversity
SEDARIS VS. COFER !
Sedaris vs. Cofer
David Sedaris and "udith Orti# Cofer have different understandings of their $hi%dhood
ho&es. In '(his O%d )ouse*+ Sedaris e,-%ains ho. he vivid%y re&e&/ered every detai% fro& his
ti&e at the /oarding house. )e a%so .rites that he %oved anti0ues and the -ast and ho. he .as
nosta%gi$ for a ti&e he never %ived through. )e a%so re$ounts the stories of his strange%y uni0ue
house&ates. Cofer+ on the other hand+ says in her essay 'Si%ent Dan$ing* that &ost of her
&e&ories of her $hi%dhood ti&e in 1aterson .ere 'gray*. n%i2e Sedaris+ Cofer re&e&/ers
/eing surrounded /y &any -eo-%e fro& her origina% ho&e+ 1uerto Ri$o.
Sedaris+ in his essay+ says that he .as 'nosta%gi$ for a ti&e he didn3t %ive through*. What
he &eans is that he had a res-e$t for o%d anti0ue things .hen &ost other -eo-%e did not. )e
.anted to 2no. the history /ehind &any o/4e$ts. )is %ove for the -ast is the reason he got a
roo& at the /oarding house in the first -%a$e. )e got the roo& /e$ause he .as .earing and o%d5
fashioned sty%e hat and the /oarding house o.ner re$ogni#ed it. )is in$%ination to.ard history is
a%so .hy he got a%ong so .e%% .ith Rose&ary+ the o.ner. Another effe$t of his %ove of
history6nosta%gia is that he re&e&/ers very $%ear%y his ti&e at the /oarding house.
n%i2e Sedaris+ .ho .rites a/out a ti&e .hen he .as -resu&a/%y around eighteen years
o%d+ Cofer /egins her story .hen she .as on%y three. )er story /egins .hen her and her fa&i%y
&ove fro& 1uerto Ri$o to 1aterson. (he fa$t that she .as so young .hen she &oved .as .hat
$aused her &e&ories to /e %ess $%ear+ she .rites: '7y &e&ories of %ife in 1aterson during those
first fe. years are a%% in shades of gray.* Whi%e Sedaris te%%s a/out .hat he did+ Cofer te%%s of
.hat she saw. Cofer te%%s of things she e,-erien$ed and things her -arents did. (hese are &ost of
.hat sha-ed her understanding of her s-a$e.
SEDARIS VS. COFER 8
Another differen$e /et.een the t.o authors9 $hi%dhoods is that Sedaris .as surrounded
/y strange and different -eo-%e. )e 2ne. a 1sy$hi$+ a s$hi#o-hreni$+ and he .as friends .ith an
o%d %ady. )e &entioned that -eo-%e .ou%d not /e%ieve hi& .hen he to%d the& his story.
When I3d te%% -eo-%e a/out this %ater+ they3d say+ :Oh+ $o&e on+: /e$ause it .as a%% too
&u$h+ rea%%y. An arthriti$ -sy$hi$+ a ra&sha$2%e house+ and either t.o or four $ra#y
-eo-%e+ de-ending on your to%eran$e for hats. )arder to s.a%%o. is that ea$h of us .as
su$h a $%i$h;. It .as as if you3d ta2en a Carson 7$Cu%%ers nove%+ &i,ed it .ith a
(ennessee Wi%%ia&s -%ay+ and du&-ed a%% the sets and $hara$ters into a sing%e /o,. I didn3t
even add that Sister Sy2es used to o.n a s0uirre% &on2ey+ as it on%y a&ounted to over2i%%.
Even the outside .or%d see&s sus-e$t here: the %eafy $o%%ege to.n+ the restaurant .ith its
$%assi$a% &usi$. <Sedaris=
)e did not a--re$iate a%% of his '$%i$h;* house&ates at the ti&e+ /ut a %ine at the end of his essay
says '>iven enough ti&e+ I guess+ anything $an %oo2 good. A%% it has to do is survive.* One $an
infer fro& this that even though he did not a--re$iate the& at that ti&e+ he %ater gained a sort of
than2fu%ness for the&.
Cofer had a very different e,-erien$e as a $hi%d gro.ing u- in 1aterson. She .as
surrounded at ho&e /y her fa&i%y and &any others fro& 1uerto Ri$o. )er+ and her fa&i%y9s /it of
fa&i%iarity .ith their neigh/ors he%-ed the& fee% %ess a%ienated than they &ay have e%se.here.
Cofer a%so he%-s us to see into her -ast /y .riting &any of the things that her -arents and
neigh/ors did. (he re$ording of the -arty and the fa$t that in her $u%ture $hi%dren .ere a%.ays
ta2en any.here the -arents .ent he%- give the reader a $%ear -i$ture of .hat her $hi%dhood .as
%i2e even if she .as too young to re&e&/er so&e of it.
SEDARIS VS. COFER ?
(o $on$%ude+ Sedaris .as a/%e to $%ear%y re&e&/er the ti&e .ritten a/out in '(his O%d
)ouse* .hi%e Cofer .as not even ten years o%d at the ti&e the events of 'Si%ent Dan$ing* ta2e
-%a$e. Cofer uses stories of her fa&i%y and des$ri-tions of a re$ording to -aint a -i$ture in the
readers9 &inds. Sedaris .as surrounded /y &any different $%i$h;d -eo-%e that he did not
a--re$iate at first /ut as ti&e .ent on+ he rea%i#ed that he .as than2fu% for the ti&e he s-ent .ith
the&. Cofer .as surrounded /y &ain%y fa&i%iar -eo-%e fro& her first ho&e 1uerto Ri$o. Overa%%+
the t.o authors had a very different understanding of their o.n $hi%dhood s-a$es and
e,-erien$es.
SEDARIS VS. COFER @
Referen$es
Cofer+ "udith. :Cofer+ Si%ent Dan$ing.: Cofer+ Si%ent Dan$ing. A.-.+ n.d. We/. 1B Aug.
!B1?. Chtt-:66...!.ha.aii.edu6Dfa$o/a6readings6$ofer.ht&E
Sedaris+ David. :(his O%d )ouse.: (his O%d )ouse. A.-.+ n.d. We/. 1B Aug. !B1?.
Chtt-:66....&i2e$raver.$o&6sedaris.ht&%E