David Sedaris writes about the suicide of his sister Tiffany

[BurnMeUp]

@Sampiro

Moving piece. It’s interesting he doesn’t try to whitewash her or his family.

I’m not that familiar with her: Gretchen and Amy are the two sisters he writes most about. Judging by his writings, was she an addict or mentally ill or just difficult?

Wow I didn’t return to this thread for a while I was surprised at the number of responses.

In some of his books he had some stories about going to visit Tiffany and her living in squalor and being extremely angry when anyone in the family tried to help get her on track. Oftentimes lashing out. She also was apparently into drugs quite a bit. I forget the actual names of the stories but I think one was in “Dress your family…” and another maybe in “Naked”

[Elendil_s_Heir]

I saw him in a public appearance a few weeks ago, and he read the essay on Tiffany’s suicide. Powerful stuff. This was, I think, the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen him on stage, and I always enjoy it (although I wasn’t quite as crazy for his updated Aesop’s Fables).

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Sedaris is at his best when he reads his works. Go onto youtube and pull up some samples of that. You can’t go wrong with Santaland Diaries, his breakthrough work.

Absolutely right. I don’t even buy his dead-tree editions anymore; give me an audiobook of him every time, baby.

[Loach]

I can’t help but think that if a family member ever wrote about me and the rest of the family it would be the last time I ever saw them.

It would be a pretty boring book though.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

I have read elsewhere, FWIW, that Sedaris gets his family member’s permission before he writes about any of them.

[randwill]

Today I started listening to the audio book of “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” and have nearly choked with laughter a couple of times.

[Drunky_Smurf]

@Bob Ducca

That’s a good book but he really shines in earlier works “Naked” and “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”

His best stories are about times of his life when he was struggling. Bad jobs he had, etc. The later books, he has a tougher time finding the comedy because his life is pretty good and he’s mostly run out of stories about the old days.

Thanks for the tip. I’ve finished “Dress you Family” and will be getting these soon.

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Sedaris is at his best when he reads his works. Go onto youtube and pull up some samples of that. You can’t go wrong with Santaland Diaries, his breakthrough work.

I have. After this thread that’s what I did and watched/listend to several videos. Listening to him read “Six to Eight Black Men” was quite amusing.

[Marion_Wormer]

About a decade ago, when David Sedaris wrote about Tiffany, I looked up her art on the web. It was for sale at an art dealers. It was very, very beautiful. Google her name and look in images. There are some there.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Bumped.

Here’s an interesting 2015 *Vice *interview with Sedaris, with a lot about his relationship with Tiffany: David Sedaris Talks About Surviving the Suicide of a Sibling

[TRC4941]

@digs

Interesting point… I’ve never “read” any of his work. I’ve listened to almost all his work in audiobook form. Come to think of it, I’ve heard so much that even if I did read it in dead tree form, I’d hear his voice in my head. So I have no idea what it’d be like for someone to pick up one of his books cold.

I agree. I’ve only “read” one of his books and that was years ago. The rest have been audiobooks. As I was reading this piece, I could hear him reading it, plain as day. I find him very funny.

I think he’s honest about his family. In some of his stories, his dad does sound like a jerk, but I’m guessing we can all tell stories about our dads or other family members that would make them seem like awful people. But notice that he still has a relationship with his family, including his dad. It seems like they must all get along pretty well.

[Sherrerd]

@Elendil_s_Heir

Bumped.

Here’s an interesting 2015 *Vice *interview with Sedaris, with a lot about his relationship with Tiffany: David Sedaris Talks About Surviving the Suicide of a Sibling

Thanks for linking to that. David Sedaris seems utterly open in his remarks, and the conversation with interviewer Blake Bailey (about their respective losses) is very illuminating.

[RickJay]

@nearwildheaven

His family’s an absolute trainwreck. I don’t think he’s funny, either.

What the hell are you talking about?

His family loves each other. The love just bursts out of this piece. What about that is a train wreck?

[TRC4941]

@RickJay

What the hell are you talking about?

His family loves each other. The love just bursts out of this piece. What about that is a train wreck?

That’s what I wondered too. I agree with you RickJay.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

I just finished David Sedaris’s latest collection of essays, Calypso, which reprints “Now We Are Five,” the story which the OP linked to, and “The Spirit World,” in which his sister Amy tells him about her contact with Tiffany (and their late mom) through a psychic. David is understandably skeptical, shall we say. Well worth a read.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Bumped.

Sedaris writes more about Tiffany in his essay “Lady Marmalade” in his latest collection, Happy-Go-Lucky, including (news to me) her unsubstantiated, nonspecific but repeated allegation that their father sexually abused her when she was very young.

[Tride]

We listened to the book as we drove through OR this fall. Lighthearted (for David), but not that essay. Tough, and I thought he did an excellent job discussing the difficulty of navigating the situation.