Where to get more information about David Sedaris? Go to his website. See his page at The New Yorker. Read some articles about him at The New York Times. Listen or read highlights of his appearance on NPR. The Washington Post has a good page on him--in print and animation.
Sedaris talks about his sister's suicide in an interview with Vice. He also wrote about her in "Now We Are Five" for The New Yorker.
Hear Sedaris read his story "A Plague of Ticks" on This American Life. Yes, it is the same essay we are reading in 50 Essays.
What does David Sedaris look like? See above. What does David Sedaris sound like? See below.
Click on this this link to watch the Closed Caption (CC) version of
Sedaris, above, appearing on David Letterman's "Late Show."
David Sedaris has been in the news. His books are bestsellers. But are his stories true or works of fiction? Does it matter? Read this article, "As Sedaris walks line between real and ‘realish,’ NPR is left in the middle", that appeared in The Washington Post, May 13, 2012, that examines that issue.
Now that you have watched the video (and possibly others, as well) and read (and maybe listened to his reading of "A Plague of Ticks,") post an answer to one the following set of questions in the comments section: If you met David Sedaris, what would you like to ask him, and what do you think his answer would be?
Hey! Is there anybody out there? Reread the Sedaris piece above. And note that you've got a job to do.
ReplyDeleteSign me,
Christopher McCabe
English 1A Guy
P.S. You can also post on Omri Avraham's piece; yep, the one I mention, above.
From Janeen A. Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1A girl
Question for David Sedaris: “Do you feel growing up having obsessive-compulsive behaviors enabled you to become so descriptive in your writing, and with having such a vivid memory?”
What I feel his answer may be: “Yes, I feel to a great extent it did, let’s just say I cautiously even observed even a ladybug being a lady”
Janeen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting this started! Wonderful question!
And thanks for signing your post, too.
Christopher McCabe
English 1A Guy aka The Teacher
From Kang, Geun Hyeung
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1A guy
My question for David Sedaris would be:
“What happens if you are ran out of cigarette and can't get no more for a while?”
and his answer may be:
"I don't really know what's going to happen, but you don't want that happen when I'm with you seriously."
Question for David Sedaris:
ReplyDeleteIn "A Plague of Tics" you described your, on a good day, hour long walk home in great detail. In your mind what did you think was going to happen if you didn't touch that lawn ornament at step 219 just the write way? Did you ever try to fight with what you mind was telling you to do?
Preassumed Response:
What most people may think with my condition, something horrific may happen if I didn't touch that telephone pole at step 314, or the world is gonna end if I didn't return to step 219.
Angelina Clark
English 1A Girl
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe question i would like to ask him is that what inspired you to become an author?
ReplyDeletei just remember joke i have read from some where else and i would like to tell him is that: the boy 4 years old was listening to the story from his dad. His father read: the man name John was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt. The boy aksed: what happened to the flea?
The question I would ask him would be if he, at a certain time in his life, had obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies. I think he would say yes, because of the way he perfectly describes OCD symptoms.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Ortiz
English 1A Fall 2011
Section #0695
Unfortunately, the very few jokes I do know are not worthy of telling, especially to satirical writer. I will go with a question instead.
ReplyDeleteWhen did you first start writing? When did you begin to write these satirical essays? Did you always write with humor?
(I know the limit was only one question, but I'm going to make the most of my time meeting him.)
I can imagine that his answer would be early on, maybe teenage years. The writing could have been something to help with his frustrations of obsessive compulsive disorder. Somewhat like a therapy. I would also assume that he has had more serious pieces of work. In that case I would ask where to find those because I would love to read them.
Yadira Easley
English 1A
James Le'au
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1A
If I ran into him and had a chance to ask him a question I would ask, "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?"
With a concerned face his response would be "Please excuse me", then walks back the way he came. The next week he paces by the same spot licking a tootsie pop with every step. Pauses to study the half-eaten candy, frustrated runs back to recount his licks with a new pop in his pocket.
The world may never know....
James,
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't have your email address, but I shouldn't wait to tell you. There is an error on your registration for the class. See me Tuesday and we'll get it fixed.
--Christoppher McCabe
P.S. And thanks to all of you--James, Yadira, George and Quyen--for the posts!
I would tell David Sedaris how lucky he is for speaking his mind and writing whatever he wants without being censored like the rest of us guys. He might find that amusing and realize how truly special he is.
ReplyDeleteHeidi Martorano
English 1A
From Imelda Estrada
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1A sect# 4674
Question for Mr. David Sedaris: There is good humor in your writings. Respectively, have you ever thought of becoming a stand-up comedian?
Answer: "Actually, yes I have, but I prefer to put it in writing. Now that I have given up smoking heaven forbid one of my tics returns during the performance. Inclusively, writing gives my mind temporary pleasure to know my books,like this one, have remained number one best seller by the New York Times for 5 straight weeks."
Question: "Mr. Sedaris,you have a natural comedic personality that, I believe, has transcribed into your best seller novels. You have traveled all over the world meeting a variety of interesting people. From Omri Avriham's report on her meeting with you, you asked your fans to tell you a joke. To satisfy my curiosity for humor, what has been your all-time favorite joke that never gets old?"
ReplyDeleteAnswer: For his love of animals and his title as a writer, "A hungry African lion came across two men. One was sitting under a tree and reading a book; the other was typing away on his typewriter. The lion pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows that readers digest and writers cramp."
Meow..
ReplyDeleteVicky Ho
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1A
Tues/Thurs 9:15a
My question for David Sedaris would be: "When you use satire in your writings, have you ever had a hard time writing something to make fun of or changing a dull scanerio to a intersting story that catches your reader's eyes?"
Answer: With his unlimited support of fans telling him jokes everyday, I am sure he hears something new everyday. However, it is hard to make a dull scene into a interesting story that will catch his reader's attention and actually have the reader enjoy the reading and laugh out loud. That is the hardest part for a writer, but probably the easiest part for him when an idea comes up.