Wikipedia

David Sedaris

David Raymond Sedaris(/sɪˈdɛərɪs/sih-DAIR-iss;born December 26, 1956)[1][2]is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 whenNational Public Radiobroadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries".He published his first collection of essays and short stories,Barrel Fever,in 1994. His next book,Naked(1997), became his first of a series ofNew York TimesBestsellers,and his 2000 collectionMe Talk Pretty One Daywon theThurber Prize for American Humor.

David Sedaris
A bust photograph of a white man in spectacles; he is wearing a white patterned shirt, blue jacket, and a jaw-mounted microphone. He is facing the camera, looking to its left.
Sedaris at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2018
BornDavid Raymond Sedaris
(1956-12-26)December 26, 1956(age 67)
Johnson City, New York,U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago(BA)
GenreHumor, essays
Notable awardsThurber Prize for American Humor
American Academy of Arts and Letters
PartnerHugh Hamrick
RelativesAmy Sedaris(sister)
Signature

Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical andself-deprecatingand often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs ofRaleigh, North Carolina,hisGreekheritage, homosexuality, jobs, education,drug use,andobsessive behaviors,as well as his life in France, London, New York, and theSouth Downsin England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actressAmy Sedaris.

In 2019, Sedaris was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters.

Early life and education

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Sedaris was born inJohnson City, New York,[3]to Sharon Elizabeth (née Leonard) and Louis Harry "Lou" Sedaris (1923–2021), anIBMengineer.[4][5][6]His mother wasAnglo-American.[7]His father was born in the U.S. to immigrants from Apidea inGreece.[8]His mother wasProtestant,and his father wasGreek Orthodox,[9]the faith in which David was raised.[9][10]

The Sedaris family moved when David was young, and he grew up in a suburban area ofRaleigh,the second oldest child of six. His siblings, from oldest to youngest, are Lisa, Gretchen,Amy,[11]Tiffany,[12]and Paul ( "the Rooster" ).[13]Tiffany died by suicide in 2013, a subject David discusses in the essay "Now We Are Five", which was published inThe New Yorkerand included in his 2018 essay collectionCalypso.[14]

After graduating fromJesse O. Sanderson High Schoolin Raleigh, Sedaris briefly attendedWestern Carolina University[15]before transferring to, and dropping out of,Kent State Universityin 1977. In his teens and twenties, David dabbled in visual and performance art. He describes his lack of success in several of his essays.

Sedaris moved toChicagoin 1983, and graduated from theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicagoin 1987.

Career

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David Sedaris at WBUR studios in June 2008.

While working odd jobs inRaleigh,Chicago, andNew York City,Sedaris was discovered in a Chicago club by radio hostIra Glass.Sedaris was reading a diary he had kept since 1977. Impressed with his work, Glass asked him to appear on his weekly local program,The Wild Room.[16]Referring to the opportunity, Sedaris said, "I owe everything to Ira... My life just changed completely, like someone waved a magic wand."[17]Sedaris's success onThe Wild Roomled to hisNational Public Radiodebut on December 23, 1992, when he read a radio essay onMorning Editiontitled "Santaland Diaries,"which described his purported experiences as an elf atMacy'sdepartment store during Christmas in New York.

"Santaland Diaries" was a success with listeners[18]and made Sedaris whatThe New York Timescalled "a minor phenomenon." He began recording a monthly segment for NPR, which was based on his diary entries and was edited and produced by Glass, and he also signed a two-book deal withLittle, Brown and Company.[16]In 1993, Sedaris toldThe New York Timeshe was publishing his first book, a collection of stories and essays, and he had 70 pages written of his second book, a novel "about a man who keeps a diary and whom Mr. Sedaris described as 'not me, but a lot like me'."[16]

Collections and mainstream success

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In 1994, Sedaris publishedBarrel Fever,a collection of stories and essays. He became a frequent contributor when Ira Glass began a weekly hour-longPRI/Chicago Public Radioshow,This American Life,in 1995. Sedaris began writing essays forEsquireandThe New Yorker.In 1997, he published another collection of essays,Naked,which won theRandy Shilts Awardfor Gay Non-Fiction fromPublishing Trianglein 1998.[19]

Nakedand his subsequent four essay collections,Holidays on Ice(1997),Me Talk Pretty One Day(2000),Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim(2004), andWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames(2008), becameNew York TimesBest Sellers.[20]

Me Talk Pretty One Daywas written mostly in France, over seven months, and it was published in 2000 to "practically unanimous rave reviews."[21]For that book, Sedaris won the 2001Thurber Prize for American Humor.[22]

In April 2001,Varietyreported Sedaris had sold theMe Talk Pretty One Dayfilm rights to directorWayne Wang,who was adapting four stories from the book forColumbia Pictures.[11][23]Wang had completed the script and begun casting when Sedaris asked to "get out of it," after he and his sister worried how their family might be portrayed. He wrote about the conversation and its aftermath in the essay "Repeat After Me." Sedaris recounted that Wang was "a real prince... I didn't want him to be mad at me, but he was so grown up about it. I never saw how it could be turned into a movie anyway."[24]

In 2004, Sedaris publishedDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,which reached number 1 onThe New York TimesNonfiction Best Seller List in June of that year.[25]The audiobook ofDress Your Family,read by Sedaris, was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.The same year, Sedaris was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Comedy Albumfor his recordingLive at Carnegie Hall.In March 2006, Ira Glass said that Sedaris's next book would be a collection of animalfables;[26]during that year, Sedaris included several animal fables in his US book tour, and three of his fables were broadcast onThis American Life.[27][28][29]

In September 2007, a new Sedaris collection was announced for publication the following year.[30]The collection's working title wasAll the Beauty You Will Ever Need,but Sedaris retitled itIndefinite Leave to Remainand finally settled on the titleWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames.[31][32]Although at least one news source assumed the book would be fables,[citation needed]Sedaris said in October 2007 that the collection might include a "surprisingly brief story about [his] decision to quit smoking," along with other stories about various topics, including chimpanzees at a typing school, and people visiting [him] in France.[31]The book was described as his darkest, as it dealt with themes of death and dying.[33][34]

In December 2008, Sedaris received an honorary doctorate fromBinghamton University.[35]

In April 2010,BBC Radio 4airedMeet David Sedaris,a four-part series of essays, which Sedaris read before a live audience.[36]A second series of six programs began airing onBBC Radio 4 Extrain June 2011, with a third series beginning in September 2012.[37]In July 2017, the sixth series was aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra. In 2010, he released a collection of stories,Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.[30][31][38]Sedaris released a collection of essays,Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls,in 2013 and, in 2017, published a collection of his 1977–2002 diaries,Theft By Finding.Also in 2013, the film adaptation of an essay fromNakedwas released as a feature-length movie,C.O.G.

In July 2011, Sedaris's essay "Chicken Toenails, Anyone", published inThe Guardian,[39]garnered some criticism over concerns that it was insensitive towards China and Chinese culture.[40][41]

A frequent guest oflate-night US talk showhostCraig Ferguson,in April 2012, Sedaris joined Ferguson and the cast of CBS'sThe Late, Late Showin Scotland for a theme week filmed in and aroundCumbernauldand inEdinburgh.The five weeknight episodes aired in May 2012.[citation needed]

Sedaris's ninth book,Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls,was released in April 2013.

In 2014, he participated inDo I Sound Gay?,a documentary film by David Thorpe aboutstereotypesof gay men's speech patterns.[42]

He appeared along with his sister Amy as special guest judges on season 8, episode 8, ofRuPaul's Drag Race.[43]He also appeared as a guest in theAdult Swimtelevision seriesFishCenter Live.[44]

Sedaris guest starred on theNetflixanimated comedy-drama seriesBoJack Horsemanas the mother of Princess Carolyn, voiced by Amy Sedaris.[45]

In 2019, Sedaris was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters.[46]A greatest-hits compilation of his essays and short fiction entitledThe Best of Mewas released in November 2020.[47]

In 2022, he publishedHappy Go Lucky,where he reflected on his relationship with his recently deceased father.[48]

Truth of nonfiction work

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In 2007, in an article inThe New Republic,Alexander S. Heardstated that much of Sedaris's work is insufficiently factual to justify being marketed as nonfiction.[49]Several published responses to Heard's article argued that Sedaris's readers are aware that his descriptions and stories are intentionally exaggerated and manipulated to maximize comic effect,[50]while others used the controversy as a springboard for discussing the liberties publishers are willing to take when calling books "nonfiction".[51]

Subsequently, in the wake of a controversy involvingMike Daisey's dramatizing and embellishing his personal experiences at Chinese factories, during an excerpt from his theatrical monologue forThis American Life,new attention has been paid to the veracity of Sedaris's nonfiction stories. NPR labels stories from Sedaris, such as "Santaland Diaries", as fiction, whileThis American Lifefact checksstories, to the extent that memories and long-ago conversations can be checked.[52]The New Yorkeralready subjects nonfiction stories written for that magazine to its comprehensivefact-checkingpolicy.[53]

The Talent Family

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Sedaris has written several plays with his sister, actressAmy Sedaris,under the name "The Talent Family". These includeStump the Host(1993),Stitches(1994),One Woman Shoe,which co-starredDavid Rakoff(1995)[54]andThe Little Frieda Mysteries(1997). All were produced and presented byMeryl Vladimerwhile she was the artistic director of "the CLUB" atLa MaMa, E.T.C.The Book of Liz(2001) was written by Sedaris and his sister, Amy and produced by Drama Dept. at The Greenwich Theater in New York.[55]

The New Yorker

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Sedaris has contributed over 40 essays toThe New Yorkermagazine and blog.[56]

Personal life

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Sedaris lives with his longtime partner, painter and set designer Hugh Hamrick. The two met in New York City in 1991 and in 1998, they moved to France together, later relocating to England.[57]Sedaris frequently mentions Hamrick in his stories, and describes the two of them as the type of couple who will not be married.[58][59][60]

Sedaris currently divides his time betweenRackham, West Sussex,England, and New York City.[61]In 2013, he purchased a beach house onEmerald Isle, North Carolina;many of the stories in his 2018 collectionCalypsoare set there.[62]

Sedaris is known for regularly spending hours removing litter from roads and highways near Rackham.[60]Because of this hobby, he is known locally as "Pig Pen"; he also has a waste vehicle named after him.[63][64]

Bibliography

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Story and essay collections

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Diaries

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Children's books

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As editor

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Plays

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  • Stump the Host(1993)
  • Stitches(1994)
  • One-Woman Shoe(withAmy Sedaris;1995)
  • The Little Frieda Mysteries(1997)
  • Santaland Diaries and Seasons Greetings(1998)
  • The Book of Liz: A Play(with Amy Sedaris; 2002)

References

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  1. ^Oswalt, Patton (May 29, 2017)."David Sedaris's Diaries Track a Path From Struggle to Success".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2017.RetrievedJuly 9,2017.
  2. ^"Dec. 26, 2015: birthday: David Sedaris".The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor.Archived fromthe originalon October 24, 2017.RetrievedJuly 9,2017.
  3. ^Finding Your Roots,PBS, Episode 9.
  4. ^Sedaris, David (2006). "Dix Hill".Naked(1 ed.). London: Abacus. p. 90.
  5. ^"TNR".RetrievedJuly 28,2022.
  6. ^"TNR".RetrievedJuly 28,2022.
  7. ^Stated onFinding Your Roots,PBS, November 18, 2014
  8. ^"Louis Sedaris Obituary - Raleigh, NC".dignitymemorial.com.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2022.RetrievedJuly 28,2022.
  9. ^abSedaris, David (June 5, 2001).Me Talk Pretty One Day.New York, NY:Little, Brown and Company.ISBN978-0-31-677696-7.
  10. ^"Amy Sedaris Interview".amysedarisrocks.com.Archived fromthe originalon March 4, 2016.RetrievedApril 24,2016.
  11. ^abLafreniere, Steve"Amy and David Sedaris"ArchivedOctober 14, 2007, at theWayback Machine,Index Magazine,2001. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  12. ^Moore, Jina (August 15, 2004)."Sister in a glass house".The Boston Globe.Archivedfrom the original on November 11, 2020.RetrievedJune 2,2019.
  13. ^Weisbecker, Lee (May 23, 2005)."Built from the floor up".Triangle Business Journal.Archivedfrom the original on November 9, 2020.RetrievedJune 2,2019.
  14. ^Sedaris, David (October 21, 2013)."Now We Are Five".The New Yorker.RetrievedNovember 5,2022.
  15. ^VideoonYouTube[dead link‍]
  16. ^abcMarchese, John."He Does Radio And Windows"ArchivedDecember 8, 2020, at theWayback Machine,The New York Times,July 4, 1993. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  17. ^St. John, Warren."Turning Sour Grapes Into a Silk Purse"ArchivedJune 27, 2018, at theWayback Machine,The New York Times,June 6, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  18. ^"Sedaris and Crumpet the Elf: A Holiday Tradition"ArchivedMarch 10, 2011, at theWayback Machine,NPR.org. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  19. ^"Publishing Triangle Awards".The Publishing Triangle.Archivedfrom the original on March 23, 2019.RetrievedMay 15,2014.
  20. ^*"Best Sellers: April 6, 1997"ArchivedJuly 7, 2018, at theWayback Machine,The New York Times,April 6, 1997. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  21. ^Richards, Linda."David Sedaris"ArchivedFebruary 6, 2007, at theWayback Machine,January Magazine,June 2000. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  22. ^"Past Thurber Prize Winners".Thurber House. Archived fromthe originalon May 17, 2014.RetrievedMay 15,2014.
  23. ^Fleming, Michael (April 5, 2001)."'Wave' duo pilot cable; Wang's 'Pretty' deal ",Variety.[1].Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  24. ^Tyrangiel, Josh."10 Questions For David Sedaris",Time,June 21, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  25. ^"Best Sellers: June 20, 2004"ArchivedJuly 7, 2018, at theWayback Machine,The New York Times,June 20, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  26. ^Glass, Ira. Chicago Public Radio pledge drive, March 24, 2006.
  27. ^Sedaris, David (December 23, 2005)."An Animal Farm Christmas".This American Life.Episode 305. WBEZ.Archivedfrom the original on March 14, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.
  28. ^Sedaris, David (February 10, 2006)."So A Squirrel And A Chipmunk Walk Into A Bar".This American Life.Episode 308. WBEZ.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.
  29. ^Sedaris, David (February 24, 2006)."Hello Kitty".This American Life.Episode 309. WBEZ.Archivedfrom the original on March 8, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.
  30. ^abIsaac, Mike."David Sedaris announces new book release"ArchivedOctober 20, 2007, at theWayback Machine,Paste,September 20, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  31. ^abcHambrick, Greg."David Sedaris is Taking Notes"ArchivedOctober 6, 2007, at theWayback Machine,Charleston City Paper,October 3, 2007. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  32. ^Neyfakh, Leon (February 21, 2008),"Why Does David Sedaris Keep Changing the Title of His Book? The Man Himself Explains",The New York Observer.ArchivedOctober 10, 2008, at theWayback Machine.Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  33. ^Mohl, Lucy (June 20, 2008)."In" When You Are Engulfed in Flames, "some stories burn brighter than others".The Seattle Times.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
  34. ^Grigoriadis, Vanessa (June 15, 2008)."Up in Smoke".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
  35. ^"Binghamton University to hold second Fall commencement"(Press release). Binghamton University. December 8, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2013.RetrievedDecember 4,2013.
  36. ^"Meet David Sedaris".Radio 4.BBC.Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2010.RetrievedApril 7,2010.
  37. ^"Meet David Sedaris".Radio 4 Extra.BBC.Archivedfrom the original on June 19, 2011.RetrievedJune 23,2011.
  38. ^Releases worth a bookmarkArchivedSeptember 9, 2010, at theWayback Machine.September 8, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  39. ^"David Sedaris: Chicken toenails, anyone?"ArchivedJanuary 8, 2017, at theWayback Machine,The Guardian,July 15, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  40. ^Yang, Jeff (July 29, 2011)."David Sedaris Talks Ugly About China"ArchivedJuly 31, 2011, at theWayback Machine,San Francisco Chronicle.Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  41. ^O'Connell, Joe (July 23, 2011)."Your letters: Tell us what you think".The Guardian.London.Archivedfrom the original on September 30, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 21,2012.
  42. ^"'Do I Sound Gay?': Toronto Review"ArchivedAugust 1, 2020, at theWayback Machine.The Hollywood Reporter,September 8, 2014.
  43. ^"Drag Race's Book Ball showcases the strength of season 8".AV Club.April 25, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on August 19, 2017.RetrievedApril 26,2016.
  44. ^Argyle, Samuel (March 29, 2019)."A fantasy getaway in a fish tank".The Outline.Archivedfrom the original on March 30, 2019.RetrievedMarch 30,2019.
  45. ^"Princess Carolyn learns you can't go home again as BoJack Horseman heads to the Tar Heel State".The A.V. Club.September 14, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on February 26, 2022.RetrievedFebruary 26,2022.
  46. ^Fedor, Ashley."2019 Newly Elected Members".American Academy of Arts and Letters.Archivedfrom the original on August 7, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 8,2020.
  47. ^Mosley, Tonya (November 3, 2020)."Humorist David Sedaris Culls Decades Of Essays Into 'The Best Of Me'".WBUR.RetrievedAugust 6,2024.
  48. ^McAlpin, Heller (May 31, 2022)."In 'Happy-Go-Lucky,' David Sedaris reflects on his fraught relationship with his dad".NPR.RetrievedOctober 28,2022.
  49. ^Heard, Alex."This American Lie: A midget guitar teacher, a Macy's elf, and the truth about David Sedaris"ArchivedMarch 18, 2012, at theWayback Machine,The New Republic,March 19, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 20085.
  50. ^Balk, Alex."David Sedaris May Sometimes Exaggerate For Effect!"ArchivedAugust 11, 2011, at theWayback Machine,Gawker,March 14, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  51. ^Villalon, Oscar."Public's taste for nonfiction has publishers playing fast and loose with labels"ArchivedApril 7, 2007, at theWayback Machine,San Francisco Chronicle,April 3, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  52. ^Farhi, Paul (May 14, 2012)."Style".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on August 29, 2017.RetrievedAugust 26,2017.
  53. ^Lyall, Sarah (June 8, 2008)."What You Read Is What He Is, Sort Of".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on October 18, 2015.RetrievedFebruary 7,2017.
  54. ^Brantley, Ben (January 26, 1995)."Turning the Headlines Sideways Into Laughs".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2022.RetrievedJuly 1,2022.
  55. ^Gutman, Les (March 28, 2001)."A Curtain Up Review: The Book of Liz".CurtainUp.com.Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp.Archivedfrom the original on July 14, 2022.RetrievedJuly 1,2022.A production of Drama Dept.... Opening 3/26/01 Closing 5/20/01 --several extensions, to 6/01/01
  56. ^"Contributors – David Sedaris".The New Yorker.Archivedfrom the original on March 13, 2011.RetrievedMarch 9,2011.
  57. ^Sedaris, David (January 27, 2020)."No One Knows Amy Sedaris Better Than Her Brother David".Elle.
  58. ^Granberry, Michael (April 25, 2019)."David Sedaris, who long ago mastered a sense of surprise, ruminates on anger, trash and Texas".The Dallas Morning News.Archivedfrom the original on August 18, 2022.RetrievedJune 2,2019.
  59. ^Schrobsdorff, Susanna (May 29, 2008)."David Sedaris on Writing, Reading and Gay Marriage".Newsweek.Archivedfrom the original on October 18, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 12,2015.
  60. ^abWakeford, Dan (November 12, 2018)."Humorist David Sedaris Was Invited to Buckingham Palace by the Queen for 'Picking Up Rubbish'".People.Archivedfrom the original on June 2, 2019.RetrievedJune 2,2019.
  61. ^Dunn, Jancee."Me Walk Pretty One Day".The New York Times.
  62. ^Merrill, Rob (May 29, 2018)."David Sedaris seeks catharsis in 'Calypso'".The Associated Press.
  63. ^"South Downs litter picker has truck named after him".West Sussex County Times.Horsham. July 28, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on July 28, 2014.RetrievedJuly 28,2014.
  64. ^Dowling, Tim(July 31, 2014)."David Sedaris? Who? Oh, you mean the local litter-picker".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on December 2, 2020.RetrievedJuly 31,2014.
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