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Forget 'Good Times,' David Sedaris Is Far More Interested In 'Bad Behavior'

David Sedaris' new book of stories covers his beach house, his family and getting older. His best advice for aging well? Try "being rich." Ingrid Christie/Little, Brown and Company hide caption

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Ingrid Christie/Little, Brown and Company

Author Interviews

Forget 'Good Times,' David Sedaris Is Far More Interested In 'Bad Behavior'

Fresh Air

Calypso features stories about family, aging and mortality. In his 61 years, Sedaris says he's learned two things: Be careful when you buy scented candles, and always have a joke in your back pocket.

Forget 'Good Times,' David Sedaris Is Far More Interested In 'Bad Behavior'

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Theft by Finding

Author Interviews

David Sedaris On The Life-Altering And Mundane Pages Of His Old Diaries

Fresh Air

Sedaris' Theft by Finding is a collection of excerpts from those diaries. In it, he revisits major turning points, like how he met his longtime boyfriend and his decision to stop drinking.

David Sedaris On The Life-Altering And Mundane Pages Of His Old Diaries

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'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

David Sedaris's new book is called Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

Fresh Air

The best-selling author and humorist has kept journals for 36 years. Those diaries have been the jumping-off point for the personal essays that appear in his collections, including Me Talk Pretty One Day and Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. (Originally broadcast on April 24, 2013.)

'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

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'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

David Sedaris's new book is called Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Author Interviews

'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

Fresh Air

The best-selling author and humorist has kept journals for 36 years. Those diaries have been the jumping-off point for the personal essays that appear in his collections, including Me Talk Pretty One Day and now Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls.

'Let's Explore': David Sedaris On His Public Private Life

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David Sedaris, Anatomizing Us In 'Squirrel' Tales
Ian Falconer

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

David Sedaris, Anatomizing Us In 'Squirrel' Tales

The humorist, who made his name with personal essays and other nonfiction, tells Steve Inskeep that his return to fiction kept taking him to surprising places. But the unhappy endings? Those he could have predicted.

David Sedaris, Anatomizing Us In 'Squirrel' Tales

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Review

Book Reviews

Mortality's Lighter Side: Sedaris' 'Engulfed'

In his new book of essays, neurotic, death-fearing humorist David Sedaris visits a morgue, has a catheter inserted (just to see what it's like) and buys a skeleton as a gift. Reviewer John Freeman calls Engulfed in Flames "always funny, occasionally bittersweet."

David Sedaris reads from "When You Are Engulfed in Flames"

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Author Interviews

Sedaris Bares Body and Soul in 'Engulfed'

Fresh Air

Whether he's lancing boils, getting crabs from thrift-store trousers or sitting in a hospital waiting room dressed only in his underwear, one thing is clear: David Sedaris is not shy about sharing embarrassing, cringe-worthy moments.

Sedaris Bares Body and Soul in 'Engulfed'

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Opinion

David Sedaris

Crumpet the Elf Reads from Santaland Diaries

Crumpet the Elf, better known as writer David Sedaris, is back for another holiday visit. Sedaris first read from his Santaland Diaries, about his experience working as an elf at Macy's, 15 years ago. That reading helped launch his career as a novelist, playwright and humorist.

Crumpet the Elf Reads from Santaland Diaries

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David Sedaris

Sedaris and Crumpet the Elf: A Holiday Tradition

The life of David Sedaris took an unexpected, and not entirely unwelcome, turn when his "Santaland Diaries" were first broadcast on Morning Edition in 1992. We reprise his story of holiday cheer.

Sedaris and Crumpet the Elf: A Holiday Tradition

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