ChapterZero

Amy Sedaris, from Strangers with Candy, wrote a book on hospitality– who would have guessed that she is a frequent hostess?– and etiquette. I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence isn’t your conventional how-to-be-a-host guide: it doesn’t suggest you put on airs, subtly or otherwise; she talks about hospitality from her personal experiences… she lives in an apartment with a rabbit, and keeps a tips jar present at her parties, so that’s saying a lot.

Even more surprising, it actually offers good advice, along with the expected humor; sometimes she even manages to mix the two in what might be a worthy idea dressed up as deadpan humor, or just good deadpan humor.

A good trick is to fill your medicine cabinet with marbles. Nothing announces a nosey guest better than an avalanche of marbles hitting a porcelain sink. Plus you’ll know which guest is a junkie whore or gutter hype, and you’ll know what else to hide. Count your stash or remove the labels from your prescription bottles.