Houstonist Was There: David Sedaris

The reading included a handful of essays and was followed by a Q&A session with the audience during which the author named-dropped former Texas governor Ann Richards and discussed his writing process and inspirations. Afterwards, Sedaris spent more than an hour signing books and talking to fans.

One thing's for certain — Sedaris is an Obama fan. While reading a story he'd written for the New Yorker about undecided voters (which you can read online), Sedaris had this to say:

"Calling yourself a maverick is a sure sign that you aren't one at all."

Between stories he indulged in a little stage banter, talking about another assignment for the New Yorker regarding book tours. He described spending up to six hours at a time signing books and talking with fans, and read excerpts from his diary in which he had noted down short slices of life and described people who had made interesting impressions on him. Like the girl who worked with primates, and hooked the author up with a helper, or "slave", monkey.

During his tours, Sedaris is known to recommend books by other authors to his audience. Last night it was "The Braindead Megaphone" by George Saunders, another collection of essays. That lead to a discussion of Kurt Vonnegut (Saunders has called Vonnegut a major influence).

"He's the one who got me to read," Sedaris said, recalling a friend who read Vonnegut out loud to him while they were traveling. Sedaris cited both Vonnegut and Saunders as inspirations. "I thought, I can do that."

When asked about his writing process, Sedaris said that he writes every day, usually in a diary, and especially while on tour. He said he makes notes about the people he meets, and often edits stories after each reading.

"I consider myself very fortunate to be able to edit in front of an audience."

An audience member asked what the writer thought of Texas. Sedaris then mentioned the former governor Richards, who was a fan of his work.

"She came to New York and came to see one of the plays I did with my sister (comedian and author Amy Sedaris)," he said. "Later she came to Paris and she was in a group of loud Texas ladies."

If you missed Sedaris last night you still have a chance to see some of his work performed on the stage. In December, Alley Theater will present a version of Sedaris' "SantaLand Diaries", an essay first performed on NPR's Morning Edition about the writer's stint as a department store elf. It was that essay that first gain Sedaris some recognition, even if it's not a piece he's fond of now.

"When I look at it it just seems so chunky to me... so awkward," he said last night. "I didn't take the job to write about it. I needed a job, and I'm short, so they hired me."

Photo: flickr user mhuang