David Sedaris’s Diaries
The Book Review2 Sep 2022

David Sedaris’s Diaries

For the next few months, we’re sharing some of our favorite conversations from the podcast’s archives. This one was originally published on June 2, 2017.

The essayist and humorist David Sedaris started keeping diaries nearly half a century ago, and in 2017 he published a broad selection of entries from them in his book “Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002).” On the podcast, he talked about how the diaries evolved, the kinds of details and eccentricities that tend to catch his eye, and the process of combing through thousands of pages to produce this 500-page book.

“I have a hundred and, I believe, 64 volumes of my diary, and each one is thicker than this book,” he says. “And a lot of it is crazy person — tiny letters, front and back page. So this is just a tiny fraction of my diary. … I tried to detach myself, and think, Would this be of interest to anyone? I mean, a lot of it wasn’t even interesting to me. Or, it was just interesting for, you know, nostalgic reasons. So I was just looking for things that might possibly interest someone who I don’t know.”

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to books@nytimes.com.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(584)

Louise Erdrich on Her New Story Collection and the Mystery of Writing

Louise Erdrich on Her New Story Collection and the Mystery of Writing

Since the publication of her first novel, “Love Medicine,” in 1984, Louise Erdrich has written fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work has earned multiple awards, including the Nati...

13 Mars 34min

The Avett Brothers’ Bassist on Writing a John Quincy Adams Book

The Avett Brothers’ Bassist on Writing a John Quincy Adams Book

For more than two decades, Bob Crawford has toured the country as the bassist for the Avett Brothers. But long before he began his career as a musician, he was obsessed with American history. After tu...

6 Mars 38min

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Wuthering Heights,' by Emily Brontë

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Wuthering Heights,' by Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is a tale of star-crossed lovers: Catherine, the wild daughter of an aristocratic family, and Heathcliff, an orphan whom Catherine’s father brings home unexpectedly....

27 Feb 54min

Director Clint Bentley on Adapting ‘Train Dreams’ for the Big Screen

Director Clint Bentley on Adapting ‘Train Dreams’ for the Big Screen

The latest film from the writer and director Clint Bentley, “Train Dreams,” is nominated for four Oscars, including best adapted screenplay. The movie is based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the s...

24 Feb 38min

Guillermo del Toro on Writing and Directing the Oscar-Nominated ‘Frankenstein’

Guillermo del Toro on Writing and Directing the Oscar-Nominated ‘Frankenstein’

For decades, the director Guillermo del Toro has built a career blending the grotesque and the beautiful in films like “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water” and “Pinocchio.” Now he’s earned his late...

20 Feb 35min

Julia Quinn on Her 'Bridgerton' Books and the Smash Netflix Series

Julia Quinn on Her 'Bridgerton' Books and the Smash Netflix Series

Julia Quinn published "The Duke and I," the first book in the 'Bridgerton' series, in 2000. Seven books and a quarter century later, its adaptation remains one of the biggest series ever to air on Net...

13 Feb 42min

How Nintendo Became the World's Most Fun Video Game Company

How Nintendo Became the World's Most Fun Video Game Company

Keza MacDonald, the video games editor at The Guardian and author of the new book “Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play,” chose to write her first book about Ninte...

6 Feb 42min

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Hounding' by Xenobe Purvis

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Hounding' by Xenobe Purvis

Xenobe Purvis’s slim but powerful debut novel, “The Hounding,” opens with a jolt: “The girls, the infernal heat, a fresh-dead body. Marching up the river path, the villagers.”How did we get here, with...

30 Jan 49min

Populärt inom Fritid

somna-med-henrik
uggla-ugglas-podcast
man-i-grupp
svenska-fpl-podden
rss-horrujeje
roda-vita-rosen
elbilsveckan
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
billgren-wood
travpodden
jordkommissionen
spokhistorier
bilar-med-sladd
rss-livsreglerna
avsuttet-med-elsa-johanna
rss-speljuntan
rss-vara-klassiker
heavy-hjelms-bubbla
sexet
rss-okrystat