Hi, Hart Beat. How are you this Monday? I’ve been seeing on Instagram today that it is hot hot hot in the rest of the country but, here on this idyllic island in Maine, it’s chilly and the fog has decided to hang over the island all day. It’s okay though, I’ve gotten lots of writing done this morning and this afternoon I’m going to hold up and read the pile of books that I have next to me.
Speaking of reading, I wanted to write to you about a book that has just come out that I am loving. Do you know David Sedaris? I wrote about him briefly once back in 2013 and I’m surprised he hasn’t come up since then. Sedaris is hands down one of my lifelong favorite authors. My parents introduced my brother and me to the author when we were young. My mom has always loved him and bought all of his books on audio to listen to them in the car. To this day, I still listen to Sedaris reading his own books almost every day. As you might know, Hart Beat, I have a hard time falling asleep so often I will listen to books on tape to help fall asleep. For the past three years or so I’ve been rotating through all of Sedaris’s books. Right now I’m on Naked and laugh still to this day on most of his writing, even though I’ve heard it a million times.
There’s something comforting about Sedaris and the stories he tells about his family, his boyfriend, and his life now. Last month, Sedaris’s newest book was published and I’m currently halfway through listening to the stories. The book is a little different from his usual memoir style short stories. Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977 – 2002) is what it’s title suggests, David Sedaris’s daily diary entries from the years 1977 to 2002. Sedaris is famous not only for his hilarious and gut-wrenching prose but also for his commitment to daily diary writing. We are lucky as humans that the author has decided to let us into his private writings and inner world. Often times interestingly mundane, the collection of diary entries allows us as readers to sit beside Sedaris during his early days as a struggling author and his early days of success.
If you’re a Sedaris fan there are two other pieces I’d recommend to you. The first is his newest short story, “Why Aren’t You Laughing?” published in The New Yorker this past June. The second is his most recent interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air from this past May. I loved listening to it.
Anyway, that’s all the news from the Island today. Hope you’re doing well, Hart Beat.
Photo of Sedaris via the author.
