What is there to say? David Sedaris is really, really funny.
Okay, actually I do have something to say about it. Sometimes the short essays in the book are good for a chuckle, sometimes tremendous laughter. Sometimes they are poignant and funny, moving stories about a family that after reading four of his books I feel like I know and care about a great deal. And sometimes I finish reading a piece and I realize that if I were to take away all the background information I've collected over the course of his books and just consider it a story about a gay man and his father (or something like that) then it would simply be an excellent short story. Just because Sedaris is writing personal humorous essays doesn't mean he isn't also an excellent crafter of fiction. I think I'm going to try to study some of his essays and use them as a guide to writing a fiction piece. He consistently balances on the edge of letting us care about him and his families without actually giving away too much of the emotional. It's good writing. I want to give an example, but that would be too much effort. You'll just have to trust me.
