david sedaris

Corey's been a big fan of David Sedaris ever since we heard "Holidays on Ice", in which he recounts his experiences of being an elf in Macy's during the Christmas season. Great stuff. Since then, Corey's dug up virtually everything Sedaris has read on NPR. So it was inevitable, when the new book was announced (Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim) that we would be in line for the book signing.

He appeared at Cody's Books last night in Berkeley for a reading and book-signing, and we were there. Great fun. He read one of his stories from the book, but he also read some pages from his journal. With all of his self-deprecating humor, you would think that he's not very good with a crowd. The image he portrays in his writing is that of an obsessive-compulsive, twitchy, introverted person who doesn't like being around people.

Not so in real life. Before the event started, he was out in the crowd, signing books and greeting his fans. When he began his reading, he invited people in the back to take some of the empty seats up front. He told his stories with confidence and ease. At the end, he took a few questions, and when he was finished he invited all of the smokers to get their books signed first. He is a proud smoker, and he likes to take care of his people, you know? Anyway, anyone with a pack of cigarettes on them could go directly to the front of the line.

Which ended up being a very good thing for us.

We were near the front of the line as it was, and the woman behind us turned out to be unbelievably strange. She introduced herself by asking me to fix her hair. Had I not been so taken off guard by this request, I would have responded by licking my palm and using it to smooth down her hair. I did not have my wits about me, though, and so responded by stammering and nodding, then turning abruptly when the line started moving. She fixed it herself.

She wasn't content to leave it there, though. She continued bumping into us and prodding us with very strange questions and during one of these interrogations I glanced into her face. Her eyelids were hanging at half-mast, and she swayed back and forth as if her bones weren't quite solid. When we made some comment about not being smokers, she realized that she was in the wrong line and hurried away to join her companions. (Thank god.) We probably should have told her that when he asked for smokers, he meant cigarettes. I don't think nicotine was her drug of choice . . .

Anyway, it was a great show. And if the story he read us was any indication, the book is probably good, too.

Posted: Sun - June 20, 2004 at 03:11 PM

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david sedaris

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