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David Sedaris (born December 26, 1956) is an American humorous essayist and radio contributor. Much of his humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating, concerning his large family life, Greek heritage, various jobs, education, and his life in France with his boyfriend Hugh.
Early years Sedaris was born in Binghamton, New York, and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He dropped out of Kent State University in 1977, and ten years later graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. (He did not attend Princeton University, although he spoke fondly of doing so in a comic baccalaureate address delivered at Princeton in June 2006.) In his teens and twenties, he dabbled in visual and performance art. His lack of success was described in several of his essays. Sedaris has obsessive-compulsive disorder, which he chronicles in his short story "A Plague of Tics." Odd jobs and The SantaLand Diaries After working a string of odd jobs across Raleigh, Chicago and New York City, Sedaris achieved prominence with the radio essay The SantaLand Diaries, describing his experiences working as an elf at Macy's department store during Christmas time in New York. The piece aired in 1992 on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and was also broadcast in the UK on Radio 4 in 1996. Best-selling Author His first book, Barrel Fever (1994) was a collection of essays and short fiction. Several compilations of his essays have been published in books such as Naked (1996), and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). Several of his books, including Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004) have hit Although Wayne Wang optioned his book Me Talk Pretty One Day for a movie, Sedaris declined to proceed with the project out of concern for his family and how they might be portrayed on screen. During a Chicago Public Radio pledge drive on March 24 2006, This American Life host Ira Glass revealed that Sedaris's next book would consist of fables about animals. Sedaris also recently read several of his short stories during a US book tour and confirmed his interest in writing from the perspective of animals. Awards & Accolades In 2001, he was named "Humorist of the Year" by Time magazine and he received the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Talent Family He is also a playwright, having authored along with his sister, actor Amy Sedaris, several plays under the name "The Talent Family." These include: Stump the Host (1993), Stitches (1994), One Woman Shoe (1995), The Little Frieda Mysteries (1997), and The Book of Liz (2002) which were all produced and presented by Meryl Vladimer, when she was the artistic director of "the CLUB" at La MaMa E.T.C. He also co-authored Incident at Kobblers Knob which was presented and produced by David Rockwell at the Lincoln Center Festival. Selected works Episodes of This American Life Featuring David Sedaris | ||||||||
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