Born into a family that clearly has the funny gene, author David Sedaris is the hilarious award-winning bestselling author of “Barrel Fever” (1994), “Naked” (1997), “Holidays on Ice” (1997), “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (2000), “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” (2004) and “When You are Engulfed in Flames” (2008). Entertainment Weekly called him the “preeminent humorist of his generation.” His sister, Amy Sedaris, is also quite well-known, especially for her roles in “Strangers with Candy” and “Sex and the City.”
David Sedaris
Born December 26, 1956
Born into a family that clearly has the funny gene, author David Sedaris is the hilarious award-winning bestselling author of “Barrel Fever” (1994), “Naked” (1997), “Holidays on Ice” (1997), “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (2000), “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” (2004) and “When You are Engulfed in Flames” (2008). Entertainment Weekly called him the “preeminent humorist of his generation.” His sister, Amy Sedaris, is also quite well-known, especially for her roles in “Strangers with Candy” and “Sex and the City.”
One of six children, Sedaris was born in Binghamton, New York, and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1983, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He started writing, while supporting himself with odd jobs (which he chronicles in his books) in Raleigh, Chicago and New York. He read his short stories on National Public Radio, and the rest is history.
David Sedaris’s short stories are at times laugh out loud funny, cringe-worthy and moving. A lot of his writing focuses on the life of a young gay man in 20th century America, the experience of an American living abroad and his family life.
“A good short story would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now and uneasy with the fit,” he explained.
Sedaris is known for combining elements of memoir, humor and the traditional short story. He has said that his stories are embellished. “I’m a humorist,” he stated. “I’m not a reporter.”
Besides entertaining the masses, Sedaris uses his talents to do good – in 2005, he edited a collection of stories called “Children Playing before a Statue of Hercules,” from which the proceeds benefit a nonprofit writing and tutorial center.
Sedaris is a frequent contributor to the award-winning “This American Life” public radio show. Along with sister Amy, he is the author of numerous plays written under the name “The Talent Family.” He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and was named Time magazine’s Humorist of the Year in 2001. In 2008, he delivered the commencement speech at Binghamton University and was awarded an honorary doctorate.
Sedaris lives in London, Paris and Normandy with his longtime partner, Hugh Hamrick.
