SANTALAND DIARIES Coming Thanksgiving Weekend: Spotlight on David Sedaris
Espie Randolph stars in ZACH's production of THE SANTALAND DIARIES, opening November 27, 2009
In 1992 David Sedaris was vaulted to stardom after reading his essay entitled, “The Santaland Diaries,” on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Sedaris didn’t always lead such a charmed life and after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1987 he worked a series of dead-end jobs while trying to make a name for himself as a writer. Eventually, Ira Glass, a Chicago radio deejay who went on to host This American Life, discovered Sedaris at an open-mike night during which he was reading his diary aloud to a room full of strangers. Realizing his sharp wit and truthful humor, Glass immediately brought Sedaris onto the radio show Wild Room and his career took a fairytale turn after that.
Mr. Sedaris has published six essay collections; Barrel Fever, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and his latest, When You are Engulfed in Flames (2008) each of which ended up on the New York Times’ Best Sellers List. In 2004, Mr. Sedaris won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his audiobook, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and was also nominated for a second Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his recording Live at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Sedaris classifies himself as a non-fiction writer and draws on his everyday experiences in order to craft a story that delights audiences across the world. The truth of his humor is what brings people back to his work over and over again. Time Magazine named Sedaris the, “Humorist of the Year,” in 2001 following the publication of Me Talk Pretty One Day, and he’s lived up to the title ever since.