I listened to this week episode of This American Life and there was another story by David Sedaris and… I can’t win against This American Life. TAL wins at life. So I’ll finish “Let’s Explore DIabetes with Owls”.

Still don’t understand why you seem to be so collectively obsessed with perfect-looking teeth, though (and flossing!) It’s unnerving. But I think I can live with it. I mean, I wouldn’t trade the NPR podcasts for the chance to be free from cultural pressure to go to the dentist, so I guess it’s not a deal breaker 😛

I’ve read all of his books except Naked (saving) and this one (too new). I do prefer listening, though.

You did not, you said some similar things and some quite different things. I think your idea might be the right one, or at least close to the right one. Hm. Interesting. I can acknowledge that the whole portrayal of his family is a faithful exaggeration, but I guess the two distinct things that bother me are:

1) How faithful is it and has he talked with them about whether it’s okay to say these things?; and
2) How exaggerated is it and has he talked to them about whether it’s okay to exaggerate these traits this way?

Which, yeah, I guess both of these concerns are related to the fact that my family places a pretty high premium on not hurting each other’s feelings. And that’s not every family.

Does “kidding on the square” have that connotation? I’ve never used the phrase before. I was trying it out for the first time.

Every comment about the towns David Sedaris goes to that other authors don’t is making me like him more and more.

Hahaha, I’d love to read those pieces. I think part of my discomfort around people writing about their families relates to the fact that they don’t address it. Here they are doing this pretty invasive thing and acting like it’s totally normal, and that disparity bothers me. I was hugely relieved to read Alison Bechdel’s piece (I now can’t remember where I read it) about how she dealt with her family members when she was writing her memoirs. She hadn’t found a perfect solution but it just made me feel so much better and more relaxed, somehow, to know that it was under consideration.

Eh, that one wasn’t my favorite. I cringed because I’m very frightened of dental care and clean my teeth obsessively to minimize the amount of dental care I’ll have to receive later. And also I try to talk my dentist out of replacing one of my fillings every time I go in. I don’t want a new one! I like the old one fine!

…I believe that has proved your point about Americans and dental care so I should withdraw from the field. :p

Yeah, I try to keep references to my family brief and complimentary. It’s not hard because they are very cool. 🙂

I have a hard time with humor books too! They start out okay, but after a while I want there to be more to them. It’s hard to write a long-form piece of humorous writing without becoming arch.

I’d be interested to know if you enjoy him or not. I enjoy some of his essays a lot — it might be that the best medium for me to consume his work is wherever the essays are published in the first place, the New Yorker or whatever.

He must! What a cool guy.

Hahaha, I’m sure Catherine Gildiner is delighted that you enjoyed her losses so much. (Anyway, Roy wouldn’t have been hurt if he’d read that book. He would have been pleased. It was so affectionate of him.)