Louisville Tickets Promotion
David Sedaris is so damn funny that every time he comes to town they have to shut down a street. I laughed so hard at one of his essays — about a vicious and clever little girl who tormented Sedaris — that coffee came out of my nose. Then there’s his essay, “Full House,” in which a closeted, teenage Sedaris got roped into a game of strip poker with some other boys in a basement. He conned them all into thinking they were losing. By the end, he had them all naked, and he had me reeling. But what makes him such a great writer is the foundation of honesty in his work, the utter realness without which Sedaris’ strongest humor would be impossible. Prime example: When Sedaris’ father kicked him out of the house, he thought it was because he was a stoner and a bum. It was actually because he was gay. “My mother assumed that I knew the truth, and it tore her apart. Here was yet another defining moment, and again I missed it entirely,” he writes. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read, and I didn’t laugh when I first encountered it — I cried.
Sedaris’ new book, Theft by Finding, is a collection of diary entries from 1977-2002, and it’s as real as ever. One entry from 1980 begins, “I gave away all my meth yesterday.” Don’t miss his Street Party at Carmichael’s on Thursday, June 8. The Street Party begins at 5 p.m., with a reading at 7 p.m. and the signing at 7:45 p.m. The event is free, but you can snag a copy of the new book and a spot in the signing line for $30. Get your tickets today through Louisville Tickets.
Cover Image: David Sedaris Street Party
