Required Reading: Engulfed

When I attended a reading of his fourth bestseller, Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris questioned my motives. Minutes after a disgustingly nuanced lecture on the cyst above his ass, he told me, "What are you, 16? You could be getting totally fucked up, or having sex in the back of a car, but instead you came and listened to an old man talk about his ass." What Sedaris doesn't understand is, his recountings of life's banal and often disgusting moments are far more affecting than the Million other memoirs clogging Oprah's bookshelf. Instead of embellished epiphanies, Sedaris works with frank and funny assessments of everyday life. This refreshing approach has sold 7 million books and gained him a huge following. His new collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed In Flames, came out earlier this month to rave reviews. If you need a break from fucking and drinking this summer, listen to what the old man has to say.