Friends,
I know many of you are fans of David Sedaris, but I wasn't sure if many of you knew he is going to be in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area doing a reading/signing.
Here are the dates:
June 13, 2008: Minneapolis , MN , University of Minnesota Bookstore
June 14, 2008: St. Paul , MN , Borders
According to the website, you need to contact the stores for more information about the event. And if you are interested in Sedaris, but won't be in the Minneapolis area then, here's the link for his tour schedule.
With that said, the reading portion is supposed to be brief in the bookstore appearances, so it may or may not be worth the hassle of fighting for space in those places. Or maybe it is. I don't know. Anyway, he will be back in Minneapolis doing a not-for-free event at the State Theater on October 19th. Tickets range from about 33 dollars to about 40 dollars. Here's a link to the Ticketmaster site for this event. You can get your tickets now, and I was able to find seats about 25 rows back from the stage (though I don't think that matters for a reading).
He'll be coming to Madison for a pay event on October 7th, and I can't help but wonder if it is worth it. I mean, I enjoy listening to Sedaris read his stuff, but I don't know if my enjoyment is worth $40. Just thinking about it leads me back to that discussion of what kind of reading to authors owe audiences. Because if I'm paying 40 dollars to hear a person read aloud stories I could read myself, and that's it, then what am I really paying for? A communal reading experience to be able to laugh in a large group when he talks about his grandmother wiping her ass with the towels? What do you think?
What's strange to me is that if we were talking about seeing, say, Bruce Springsteen live, then I wouldn't even think twice about the chance of seeing him perform even though the same thing holds true for the Boss as does David Sedaris. I could just as easily stay at home and listen to Nebraska on a loop, which is essentially the same argument I have for not wanting to pay 40 dollars to see Sedaris read. Do you feel the same way?
Anyway, in another little Sedaris related news, I didn't realize that last year he was also taken to task for having some not-so factual bits in his work. Since I somehow missed it, I assume others might have too, but here's the link to The New Republic's piece that call him out: "This American Lie." Here's a little Slate article encapsulating the situation.
viva el mustache
June 8, 2008
When You Want To Be Engulfed In Flames
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3 comments:
Danielle and Michael and Clisbee and I went to hear Sedaris read last fall, and it was so fantastic I will go again this fall. Sedaris always reads new material. Plus, his voice is just so good. Plus, he will sit and sign books until the last one is signed, and he'll make chitchat with you.
Sedaris to Danielle: Who are you here with?
Danielle: My professor.
Sedaris: Oh really. And what does your professor profess?
Danielle (in a squeaky voice): Writing is a series of choices and every choice the writer makes has an effect.
Sedaris: (to me) Are you the professor?
Me: (unable to speak) Uhhhhhhhh.
Clisbee: I'm in her class, too. She made us read your book. She made us write imitations.
Sedaris: How were they?
Me: (suddenly finding my voice) He used the word "penis," and we asked him would Sedaris use that word.
Clisbee: We decided Sedaris would use the word "wang."
Sedaris: I like wang.
And he gave me chocolate pumpkins. And I thought I would hump his leg and would have except Clisbee mesmerized him with wangs.
Perhaps the accusations in "This American Lie" prompted Sedaris to write the "What I Learned" essay.
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