Interviews
On Tuesday, May 27, barnesandnoble.com welcomed David Sedaris, author of NAKED.
Moderator: Welcome to barnesandnoble.com. We are excited to welcome David Sedaris to the Auditorium this evening to chat about his latest hilarious book, NAKED. Welcome and thanks for joining us!
David Sedaris: Good evening. Hello!
Michele from Dallas: Do your novels take an average length of time to finish? Or do you find some take quite a bit longer than others? If so, why?
David Sedaris: I've never written a novel, but my first book was written over the course of four years. I never thought it would be a book. I wrote the stories over four years as they came to me. The second book was written over the course of a year -- a long and terrible year -- in order to make a deadline.
Steve from Bloomington, IL: What inspired you to write NAKED or to name it NAKED?
David Sedaris: My deadline inspired me to write it. And the title was inspired by my trip to the nudist colony. But if I had it to do over again, it would be different, because I'm weary of one-word titles.
Emily Hatfield from CT: I read in
The New York Observer that you and your sister, Amy, collaborated on several sections of BARREL FEVER for the stage in particular. Did you write any of NAKED for the stage? If so, which sections? Do you have actors in mind for the roles?
David Sedaris: I didn't write any part of NAKED for the stage, but I read part of it with Amy aloud in New York. I thought about part of it being performed, but they would have to be naked the whole time in order for it to make sense. I work with a troupe on a regular basis, but I'm not sure if any of them are willing to be naked for an entire play.
Amelia from NC: What kind of response have you gotten from your family about this book?
David Sedaris: They all seem to enjoy it. Any story that pertained to any of my brothers and sisters I let them read first and choose whether or not the piece would be included. I think they understand that this is my perspective of what happened.
Kathleen from NJ: Do you find it painful to write about yourself? Is it more difficult than writing about characters you make up?
David Sedaris: I think I prefer to write about fictional characters -- only because I don't know where their story is going. Seeing as that I think of myself almost exclusively, it's no great leap to write about myself. But I look forward to writing fiction now.
Brian from Hoboken: David, do you work on TV or movie screenwriting? Have you been approached about using your books as subjects for TV or movies?
David Sedaris: Yes, for some reason I'm often approached, which puzzles me, because I don't see how any of them would work. My sister did a sketch-comedy show which they worked well for. But as far as TV or movies go, I don't see how any of them would work. I'm not up for the power pyramid that comes with those kind of productions. I like to be on top of things.
Lynda from Bethpage, NY: Will you be doing any book signings at the B&N stores on Long Island -- the Huntington, Carle Place, or Massapequa Stores?
David Sedaris: I don't have any plans to. I just finished a two month-long tour. I don't have any plans to, and I don't care if I never get on another plane in my life. In terms of a book tour, I have no idea why they send you where. I have no idea why I went to Cedar Rapids instead of Miami.
Fisher from RI: Sounds like a great book. Would my 12-year-old daughter be too young to read it?
David Sedaris: Twelve, yes. Seventeen would be alright, but I don't think it would be of much interest to a 12-year-old.
Mike from NYC: David, I loved SANTALAND DIARIES and was wondering if you ever considered performing it yourself.
David Sedaris: No. It was adapted as a stage play last year, but I had no desire to perform it myself. I've smoked so much pot I can barely remember my zip code, and the thought of remembering all that dialogue.... I like to read out loud, but I have no interest in performing.
Jill from Boston: Who do you like to read? Are there authors that have inspired you?
David Sedaris: I tried not to read anything while I was working on the book. So I just started reading some of the things I've got backed up, like ANGELA'S ASHES -- which I love. And some Flannery O'Connor, which knocks me out every time I read it. I love Susan Sheehan, Thomas Berger; I loved reading THE DESIGNATED MOURNER, the new Wallace Shawn play, and the Tanya Tucker biography.
Karen O'Connor from Needham, MA: Hi, David. I am curious about what it is you have in you that enables you to bare all your secrets, embarrassing and all, to the world. What made you decide to do this book? Did you feel a sort of cleansing when you finished it? Or did you feel "naked" but uncomfortably so?
David Sedaris: I felt neither cleansed nor naked. There were a lot of things there that I would have preferred to address in fiction . There were a lot of parts featured in "Morning Edition," but they could only be six minutes long, so I started the book by expanding those radio pieces. Not until I was halfway through did I think it would be a book about me.
Jonathan from Massachusetts: It seems you are able to find the upside to even the saddest of family moments in your writing. Is this a general personality trait or something that you discovered when you began writing NAKED? I loved the book!
David Sedaris: Thank you! I figure that no one wants to hear the maudlin stuff -- I know people like that and I avoid their phone calls. In retrospect, I think about what was funny about it. I write kind of serious maudlin things at night, but eventually I sober up and throw them away.
Mike from NYC: I just got NAKED today, so I haven't been able to read the whole thing yet, although I am listening to The Captain & Tenille's "Greatest Hits" right now. The book jacket is awesome! Did you have any say in the design?
David Sedaris: Chip Kidd did the jacket, and I'd always been an admirer of his work -- he's a publisher's way of letting you know they really care. He came up with the design on his own, and I like it.
Kiely from Miami Beach: Do you take any inspiration from the writers you mentioned earlier that you like to read, like Flannery O'Connor or even Frank McCourt? What writers have inspired you to write?
David Sedaris: I suppose anyone whose work I read and enjoy I find inspirational. It's inspirational that they could write such a rewarding book. When I was younger, I was more apt to copy the writers I admired, I think it took a while to figure out that that was who they were, and to admire them instead of try to be them.
Angel from East Village: Do you feel you bared your soul in NAKED? I read that in
The Village Voice and couldn't decide if the journalist was just trying to be cute or if you had truly bared your soul in the book? I mean, I loved it but did you feel raw when it was published?
David Sedaris: No, I didn't. I'm not what you would call a secretive person . A lifetime of running my mouth had prepared me for writing this book, and worrying that I had revealed so much of myself that there was nothing left.
Roy Dicks from Raleigh, NC: I read in a magazine interview with you that you had mentioned having 70 pages of a novel written (this was before NAKED came out). Is that a different book or did it turn into NAKED.?
David Sedaris: That's a different book. I'm not sure if I'll go back and finish it or if I'll just leave it. In order to finish it, I'll need to attend the academy for locksmiths and spend some time in a rehab center -- because my main character is paralyzed.
Mark from Boston: Do you plan to do any more pieces on "This American Life" (on NPR) from NAKED?
David Sedaris: Probably not from NAKED, but I plan to do more stories for the show. What I like about Ira's show is that he'll give me a theme to write from. He gave me 17 sound effects and I had to identify them in order. I know I have a live presentation for his show in two weeks, but he still hasn't told my what the theme is.
Mike from NYC: You remind me a lot of Nicky Silver. Are you a fan of his work?
David Sedaris: I've only seen two of his plays. And I look forward to seeing more -- I think he's really funny. I got to meet him recently, and that was a real treat for me.
Lani from Philadelphia: Thank goodness for your book. I had just finished ANGELA'S ASHES, which I dearly loved but found excruciatingly painful. I not only loved your humor but appreciated your clever writing style. I immediately went out and bought BARREL FEVER as well. Have you ever thought, however, of writing a novel instead of short stories?
David Sedaris: My next book has to be a novel. They're bringing out a book in October, but it's a collection of previously published material . The next book has to be a novel -- it's in the contract. I have no idea how to write a novel, but I guess I'll have to learn.
Aaron from LA: What are your hobbies? If you weren't a writer, what would you be?
David Sedaris: If I weren't a writer, I would be a taxidermist. Right now my hobby is collecting taxidermy. If I wasn't writing, I would probably learn to stuff the animals myself.
John from SC: You seem like someone who would ponder the future. Any predictions for the year 2000? Anything I should look out for? )
David Sedaris: Gosh, I'm just not one to ponder the future -- I don't really think that way. Anytime I see a story in the paper about something that will affect my life, like the cost of cigarettes going up, I just close the paper and wish it away. The only thing I can see about the future is that it's going to be really rough for smokers.
Steve from MA: Boxers or briefs?
David Sedaris: Briefs -- even though there are boxers on the cover. If they put my briefs on the cover, no one would go near the book.
Mike from NYC: Did I read something about you doing something as "The Talent Family" or something like that?
David Sedaris: My sister Amy and I work together as the Talent Family. We usually do a play once a year. I'm not in the plays, but we write them together. We had a play, "The Little Frieda Mysteries," at Lamoma last winter, and we have a play coming up for this summer's Lincoln Center festival in July. We start rehearsals tomorrow, and I have ten pages of dialogue. I'm in trouble with this play. Right now we're talking with a fiddle player, hoping that some sort of a staged hoedown might make up for a good ten minutes.
Amy from Charlotte, NC: Coming from the Bible Belt, do you find that growing up in North Carolina colors the way you think or write? Or has it simply improved your sense of humor?-)
David Sedaris: Well, I grew up in North Carolina, but I was from upstate New York, so we were only sort of outside the established social life there. And maybe it helped me become an observer.
Marianne from West Virginia: Hi, David. Did your mom get a chance to read even part of this book? Or anything else you have written with her in mind? She was wonderfully funny and acerbic in NAKED.
David Sedaris: Thank you. No, my mother died before either of my books were published, but I know there is nothing in NAKED that she would have objected to.
Amanda from NYC: What do you think of the Internet craze? Do you think people need to find something better to do or do you think it will have a positive effect on society?
David Sedaris: I know nothing about computers. I've never touched one except to clean it. I've seen people in airports hunched over their little laptops, but I have no idea what they're doing. I despise the word. I have an IBM electric typwriter, and that's fine for me. Eventually, though, they'll stop making ribbons, and I'll be left brewing White-Out in my bathtub.
Mike from NYC: Before you leave us, we must know if you're single!
David Sedaris: No. I was lucky enough to trick someone into being my boyfriend. And we've been together for close to seven years. He designs the backdrops for all of our plays, so I can't afford to break up with him. Besides, where were all the guys before I had a book published?
Tod from Seattle: Have you ever read HIGH FIDELITY by Nick Hornby? It is fiction, but I think your writing is similar.
David Sedaris: No, I haven't read it. But I heard him interviewed by Terry Gross and always intended to read that book. I'll put it on my list.
Jen from West Chester: I am wondering how much of your book is fact or fiction. Surely you exaggerate the basic events or anomalies. Otherwise I can't imagine how you could grow up to be a functional being.
David Sedaris: I exaggerated, but not as much as most people think that I did. The way I see it, it's like taking my family members and putting them onstage. Most of my exaggeration came in the dialogue.
Dave from work: Do you think life in general is funny? Do you sit on the subways looking at people and just laugh to yourself? Do you have any advice for people who take life too seriously?
David Sedaris: I guess I'm just prone to seeking out what's absurd in any given situation, but personally, I'm no laugh riot to spend time with. And people who take life too seriously should probably either take up drugs or run for office.
Mike from NYC: Thanks for a fun hour -- keep smoking!
David Sedaris: OK!
Moderator: Thank you for joining us tonight, David Sedaris! Good night.
David Sedaris: Good night! Thanks for having me.