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Writer David Sedaris On 'Calypso' & Getting Older

Heike Huslage-Koch
/
Wikimedia
David Sedaris at Frankfurt Book Fair in 2018.

If you listen to public radio, you’ve probably heard David Sedaris. The writer has been a staple on This American Life and before that Morning Edition for many years. He has also authored a number of bestsellers, including Me Talk Pretty One DayBarrel Fever, and most recently Calypso

Like his previous works, Calypso is full of humorous social critiques, but the stories are a bit darker. Sedaris says this wasn't a conscious choice, just the inevitable result of getting older. 

"As you get older, you know, your friends start dying and people get cancer, and people get parts of themselves lopped off. It just comes with the territory, it just comes with aging," he explains. 

"As you get older, you know, your friends start dying and people get cancer, and people get parts of themselves lopped off. It just comes with the territory, it just comes with aging."

Sedaris was recently in Milwaukee for an event at Boswell Book Company, and much like his books, his live events are immensely popular. His deadpan readings bring in the crowds, along with his signing and conversation lines that can last well into the night. But Sedaris says there are both pros and cons to the intimate and often candid conversations at these events. 

"The problem is that then I go back to my hotel and I’ll be at the check-in desk, and I’ll say to the woman behind the counter, 'Are those your real teeth?' And you can’t be doing that," he explains.