David Sedaris Talks About & Draws Jenny While In Dallas. Cross Post Okay

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David Sedaris Is Probably Still Signing Books Somewhere on the SMU Campus

By Merritt Martin in The Unfair Park Book Club

Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 12:45PM

 

Jenny the Elephant, as drawn by a certain humorist of noteHoards

of lit fans -- which is to say, people who still read actual books --

filled in the tapestried seats of McFarlin Auditorium last night and

listened to humorist, essayist and This American Life

favorite David Sedaris regale us with tales of pompous, affected

accents; kookaburras and what it's like to live in France while the

United States has a black president. Oh, and he also mentioned a certain elephant in the room -- or Dallas Zoo, to be more precise.

 

Sedaris

mentioned that usually, personal requests -- like an appearance with a

dying kid or his speaking out on behalf of a particular cause -- are

usually turned down by his agent well before they ever make it to him.

But then he got a letter from Lily Tomlin, so, yes, you can see where this is going.

And though he said he'd "be more inclined to talk about a supermarket

attendant everyone made fun of" before getting around to elephants

living in captivity, Sedaris said, "I like Lily Tomlin. I really like

Lily Tomlin." He explained a bit about Jenny the Elephant's situation

-- though not too much, because, look, this clearly isn't his thing.

 

He

said, "There's something called Citizens for Jenny ... so ... you ...

call them. You can't beat Lily. I don't know if she's got a zebra in

Cincinnati she's [taken an interest in]. Bea Arthur seems to care too,

and they're both great."

Then he moved on to other topics, one being that during this recession

we all should really try to get a deal on a room at the Adolphus

because "the Adolphus is fantastic. I think. You won't find shit on

your shower curtains there." (Don't worry -- that isn't Sedaris's sole

guideline for good hotel rooms, just an observation hanging around from

an earlier anecdote.)

 

 

He also answered questions from the audience, and during that Q & A he mentioned that "Repeat After Me"

is probably his favorite of his own stories. (I must add that I totally

feel the same way.) "It's the kind of story I wanted to write when I

started writing," he said. "If I had to take all my books and reduce

them to one story I think it would be that story."

 

Sedaris signed books until well past 1 a.m. (possibly 2, but I left once he signed my copy of When You Are Engulfed in Flames,

complete with a drawing of Jenny). But not before he closed his chat

with this sign-off: "And an elephant who has sore feet and can't move

around and is crazy ... What're we gonna do?! Thank you"

 

 

6 comment(s) / Post a Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom says:

Excellent recap. Did you discuss Jenny with him?

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 1:02PM

 

 

Bethany says:

Great to stand in line with you, Merritt. Next time, I vote making friends with Ms. Ruffle Blouse before standing in any lines.

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 1:04PM

 

 

Merritt says:

Tom

- The extent of our Jenny discussion was me seeing he was drawing an

elephant and starting to say, "Oh, it's Je-" to which he replied (while

still drawing) something along the lines of, "Hey, it's Jenny, Jenny

the elephant. Dallas' elephant. Yes!" and handed me my book. We'd

already discussed "asshole birds" and other things, so it was a closer

of sorts.

Bethany - You too! I like the way you think. Congratulations and best wishes, by the way. I forgot to say that to you two!

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 1:15PM

 

 

dave Little says:

It

was just a great show, though I found myself laughing at certain things

that only one or two others found funny. But I'm messed up in the head.

I also found it very interesting that he recommends books at each of

his shows(alan bennett) and brings a copy of one of his books printed

in a different language(dutch?) to give to the first person who spoke

it to him. Next time I will stay for the after-party book signing. That

sounds like it might be as much fun as the reading.

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 1:34PM

 

 

Bethany says:

Thanks

Merritt! If I had to stand in line and be forced to give cuts to

someone even though I didn't want to, I'm glad it was with the group of

people I was with. If that makes sense.

Dave, next time, do stay, and I'll bring a flask.

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 4:00PM

 

 

meredith says:

It

wasn't the best Sedaris reading I've been to, but still worth the price

of attendance. I hope his first story is released at some point - it

was the high point of the night, for sure.

Posted On: Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 5:23PM