Thursday, July 28, 2016

Laughing When You Know You Shouldn't


Reading the writings of David Sedaris is a guilty pleasure. Hearing him read his stories the other night at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown was even trickier because I laughed out loud in a crowd when I knew I shouldn't have.

Sedaris read two short stories, including one I read some years ago in The New Yorker about his late sister Tiffany. I now recall sending that story to my siblings because it spoke so humorously yet honestly about losing a sibling to addiction and mental illness, a sad and tragic outcome my family experienced as well.

He finished the night by reading a few dozen wicked diary entries. I'm paraphrasing from memory here, but one of them went something like this:
"After a reading and during the Q&A, a young man asked me about being a gay man. He said he was a gay Muslim living in Texas and asked for my advice.
"I said, 'Accept Jesus Christ as your savior.' "

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