FRESH AIR: From intestinal distress to family dysfunction, writer David Sedaris has spent decades sharing some of the most intimate aspects of his life. Still, there are some topics that make him uncomfortable.”Nothing makes me more self-conscious writing in my diary than if I’m writing about something good,” he says. Cataloging achievements or compliments doesn’t sit well with him: “I just think, ‘God, if anyone were to find this diary, I would look so bad, congratulating myself here,’ ” he says. Instead, Sedaris prefers to write about “bad behavior” — both his own and others’. “Is it my fault that the good times turn to nothing while the bad burns forever bright?” he asks. Sedaris’ new book, Calypso, features stories about family, aging, mortality and his North Carolina beach house. Sedaris is now 61. “I feel like if I robbed a bank, this would be the perfect time to do it,” he says. “Because when the police said, ‘What did he look like?’ they’d say, ‘He had gray hair.’ That’s all people see after you’re a certain age: Is that you have gray hair.” MORE
REVIEW: New York Times