David Sedaris, hilarious essayist/ author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and, most recently, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, is doing a "small town" book tour (being from Kentucky, 85-120K people doesn't qualify as a small town, but OK). He basically goes to cities that never see popular authors because they aren't New York, Boston or L.A. and then he stays up to 9.5 hours after a reading to sign books and talk with each reader/fan, according to the Publisher's Weekly article and my own personal experience.
As a senior in high school, I attended a reading of his with a friend, piggybacking on the unusual and unexpected good taste of said friend. Aside from being uproarious and one of the better writers of the past 15 years -- a memoirist who doesn't roll in his own self-pity (unless he wallows in it for your enjoyment) -- afterward, he also stayed for hours to sign each book of each patron. My friend brought four books, which was embarrassing and excessive, but Sedaris signed each one. He then complimented us for dressing up, deploring to the Kentucky Center for the Arts gods that he had to and why shouldn't everyone else?
Because of this long wait in line or our propensity to overdress or perhaps the fact that we were teenagers who read something other than Harry Potter in the 2000s, Sedaris then rummaged through his rucksack, saying he wished to give us a gift, but all he had was the soap and lotion he had stolen from a hotel. We took it.
So basically, even though Louisville isn't by any means a small town, I was glad to have had my second authorial experience (the first was with the renownd singer-songwriter Raffi) with a man so appreciative to meet readers.
And this is why I plan to be one of the people lined all the way to Mid-City Mall down Bardstown Road when he comes to Carmichael's on Sunday (Father's Day). Maybe I'm a bad kid, but at least I read?
For Sedaris' tour dates, click here.
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4 comments:
David Sedaris gave you hotel soap and lotion? I hope you still have it. That is awesome.
I still have the lotion. The other person took the hand soap. I love that man. So clean.
Who is David Sedaris? I've never heard of him. Sedaris sounds vaguely Greek. Is he Greek?
(I'm kidding.)
I met Sedaris in the fall when he came to lexington. I told him that I would be graduating and had no plans so if he needed any help on tour I would be glad to come along. Of course I was kidding. But he signed my book "To Ashley. My future sidekick."
I like to think that the only reason I'm not traveling with him right now is because I forgot to give him my number.
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