A wonderful evening at Literaturhaus. Sedaris is not only a masterful comic writer, he is also charming, approachable, real. And he loves to autograph books. He read from his newest one, “When You are Engulfed in Flames” (also available as an audio book or in German, “Schöner wird’s nicht“), which I can warmly recommend. What he and Gerd Köster read from the book:
Road Trips
With a Pal Like this, Who Needs Enemies?
All the Beauty You Will Ever Need
Memento Mori
Question and Answer Session:
On “Kuchen”: He told us he had gone to the Alte Pinakothek to have cake… the best he has ever had… and was just amazed about the word “Mutterkuchen” (for placenta).
On the internet: Not really interested except that he lies in bed wondering if there’s a webcam on Russell Crowe
On Obama: How frustrating it was to be abroad on The Big Night (he voted absentee, too); how the French loved to say America wouldn’t elect a black man; and how now when they come and say “yeah, Obama,” he says to them, “Oh, go and get yourself your own black president.”
On the title and cover of his new book: That Walmart didn’t like it and wanted a different cover because they found it “depressing”, but he said a store that creates so much ugliness in the world should not even have the right to use the word “depressing”.
2 Responses
Wasn’t it van Gogh, who painted this picture?
Yes, I think you’re right. He said he found it on a postcard in a museum shop in Spain somewhere. A real skeleton plays a big role in “Memento Mori”, where he gets one for his boyfriend …