I’ve seen Sedaris live twice, and I can tell you, you’re in for a treat. Known for his ability to deliver poignant wit and self-deprecating humour in his essays, he is even better in person. He’s also known for lengthy conversations with his fans during book signings, so be sure to stay after, and see what he will write in your book. For the record, I got a lewd drawing once, something about a squirrel the second time. Sedaris writes predominantly about his own life, covering themes about his upbringing in middle-class North Carolina, obsessive behaviors, travel and life abroad, homosexuality, and family. The essays are a magical mix of comedy, drama, and social commentary. Bookmark in Charlottetown is the official bookseller for this event. At the time of press, these (and all Sedaris’ other titles) are available for purchase in advance of the August event. NEWBIE: Me Talk Pretty One Day (2001, published by Little, Brown and Company) I first encountered Sedaris’s work when Me Talk Pretty One Day came out in 2000. It was probably one of the first memoirs I had read, and it struck me as being exceedingly honest. Much of the book is about his shortcomings and faults, but also subtly about overcoming them. One essay is about drug use in college, another about his first teaching job. In my favourite essay, “ Jesus Shaves ,” he writes about explaining Easter to a Moroccan woman when he and his partner Hugh first move to Paris. “After a few months in my parents’ basement, I took an apartment near the state university, where I discovered both crystal methamphetamine and conceptual art.
Either one of these things are dangerous, but in combination they have the potential to destroy entire civilizations.” - “ Twelve Moments in the Life of an Artist, ” Me Talk Pretty One Day SEASONED READER: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls (2013, published by Little, Brown and Company) Many of the essays in this book cover Sedaris’s life in Paris and the United Kingdom, and his time touring. Diabetes also includes six comedic monologues he claims could be read by youths at speech competitions (but would be wildly inappropriate). My favourite essay in the book is “Dentists Without Borders,” about visiting medical practitioners while living in France. “It was the same when I complained about all the gaps between my teeth. ‘I had braces when I was young, but maybe I need them again,’ I told her. An American dentist would have referred me to an orthodontist, but, to Dr. Barras, I was being hysterical. ‘You have what we in France call ‘good-time teeth,’’ she said. ‘Why on earth would you want to change them?’ ‘Um, because I can floss with the sash to my bathrobe?’”
on AIDS and September 11 th ). If you have read Sedaris’s other works, you will likely enjoy reading the backstory on some of his essays. It is also a treat to read how his writing voice matured from twenty-one- year-old college student to world-famous essayist. “Of the roughly eight million words handwritten or typed into my diary since September 5, 1977, I’m including only a small fraction. An entirely different book from the same source material could make me appear nothing but evil, selfish, generous, or even, dare I say, sensitive. On any given day I am all these things and more: stupid, cheerful, misanthropic, cruel, narrow-minded, open, petty--the list goes on and on.” - Theft by Finding: Diarie s (1977–2002)
- “Dentists Without Borders,” Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls
DIE-HARD FANS: Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977–2002) (2017, published by Little, Brown and Company) Like many famous writers, Sedaris writes daily in a diary. Theft by Finding covers nearly 40 years of diary entries. The entries range from the mundane (chronicling the price of gas in Raleigh) to the profound (entries
Kristen Johnson is a homesteader and home-school mom who lives in Eastern PEI. She loves to spend her free time between the pages of a book.
SUMMER 2019 www.pei-living.ca
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