# I saw David Sedaris' brother's floor sanding van! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249 "2005-09-05T22:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/1 "2005-09-05T22:10:17Z")
Now this only makes sense if you have heard or read David Sedaris’ “You Can’t Kill The Rooster”, an homage, perhaps, to his brother Paul aka “The Rooster” If you are a regular follower of David Sedaris then you will probably recall that his family moved to Raleigh, NC during his formative years and that is where his Dad and brother still live. So if you are enough of a fan to know all that, then you may understand my excitement when, sitting at a traffic light in Raleigh (Five Points area if you know the city) when a van crossed in front of me with a logo that said “Sedaris’ Floor Sanding” I couldn’t believe it. I called my husband on my cell squealing. It’s like…I dunno, going to a bookstore in San Francisco and realizing it’s the one owned by Margaret Cho’s parents, or coming across a Catholic church in Minnesota called Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility. Well, you can see, I just had to share. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/2 "2005-09-05T22:13:55Z")
Wow! I’d be thrilled, too. I’m trying to remember the name he was _going to_ give his floor sanding business. It was his rap name, IIRC. Silly P, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/3 "2005-09-05T23:02:13Z")
I thought David was the only boy in the family. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/4 "2005-09-05T23:06:13Z")
Nope, Paul is the youngest child, and the only one born in NC, IIRC. Do yourself a favor and read “You Can’t Kill the Rooster.” It’s a riot. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/5 "2005-09-05T23:07:25Z")
Where can I buy a CD with _The Santaland Diaries_ on it? I checked Amazon, and it looks like the only CD with it is the complete collected works boxed set, at $50 , which is little more than I wanted to pay. I will be spending Christmas with my family for the first time in 4 years, and I want to turn them on to it. There is a version posted on the NPR website but it is only 9 minutes long, and as I recall, the original was longer than that. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/6 "2005-09-05T23:41:58Z")
[Holidays On Ice audio CD](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1586212222/ref=lpr_g_3/104-5661926-6691907?v=glance&s=books) Or, for free, you may listen to it at This American Life’s website [www.thislife.org](http://www.thislife.org) just enter Santaland Diaries in the search box and several episodes airing various lengths come up, definitely longer than the 9 min. version ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/7 "2005-09-06T00:15:04Z")
A friend said that she went to Sedaris’s sister’s yard sale (the baker). How wild is that? ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/8 "2005-09-06T00:43:10Z")
I think he was going to call it “Silly F\*cking P’s Floor Sanding”, wasn’t he? I love David Sedaris, and so I think witnessing his brother’s van at a traffic light is pretty cool. It’s cooler than anybody’s van _I’ve_ seen lately. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/9 "2005-09-06T00:43:45Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > A friend said that she went to Sedaris’s sister’s yard sale (the baker). How wild is that? Amy Sedaris? I love her. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/10 "2005-09-06T03:40:53Z")
He was going to call it Silly P’s Hardwood Floors. When his father told him he couldn’t use a name like Silly P for his business, he was going to call it Silly Fucking P’s Hardwood Floors. “You Can’t Kill the Rooster” is a classic. Be sure to catch the follow-up, “Rooster at the Hitchin’ Post”; it’s in Sedaris’s new book as well as the _Best American Non-Required Reading_ collection from (I think) 2003. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/11 "2005-09-06T05:35:54Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > > [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > > > A friend said that she went to Sedaris’s sister’s yard sale (the baker). How wild is that? > > Amy Sedaris? I love her. Well, he has at least 3 other sisters. And Amy’s not a professional baker (though she makes a lot of cupcakes, I hear). ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/12 "2005-09-06T06:20:58Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > Well, he has at least 3 other sisters. And Amy’s not a professional baker (though she makes a lot of cupcakes, I hear). I was thinking about the mail order cheese-ball business she runs that she talked about on the Late Show. Sorry if this is a hijack, but in your (any of yours’) opinion, what is the best David Sedaris book to start with? I’ve never read him but think I should start. ---
**Author:** ![initech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/439d5e/32.png) [@initech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/initech)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/13 "2005-09-06T06:59:57Z")
\*\*\*Naked \*\*\* is probably the best place to start, but they’re all great. I also highly recommend his books on tape, all read by Sedaris, of course. His delivery is outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/14 "2005-09-06T15:05:22Z")
If you’ve never even HEARD Sedaris, I’d recommend getting his works on tape - part of the joy for me in reading a Sedaris book is hearing it in my head in his voice. So if you don’t know what his speaking is like, I’d go for the audio. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/15 "2005-09-06T20:24:08Z")
> [@initech](#): > > \*\*\*Naked \*\*\* is probably the best place to start, but they’re all great. I also highly recommend his books on tape, all read by Sedaris, of course. His delivery is outstanding. Actually, I disagree, I think. I had my husband start with _Me Talk Pretty One Day_ and he agreed with my sequencing. As to the OP, I’m jealous. Very, very jealous. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/16 "2005-09-06T23:14:26Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > If you’ve never even HEARD Sedaris, I’d recommend getting his works on tape - part of the joy for me in reading a Sedaris book is hearing it in my head in his voice. So if you don’t know what his speaking is like, I’d go for the audio. I have no tolerance for audio books, they’re never read at the speed I like, and I have poor hearing wrt certain sounds, I always have to watch movies to follow them. And with CDs you can’t rewind it to catch a word. Thanks for the suggestion though. 🙂 I’ve seen Sedaris on one of those late-night talk shows, and he seemed like a pretty funny guy there. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/17 "2005-09-07T00:36:21Z")
Paul Sedaris has dick-do disease! That would make my day, to see that! ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/18 "2005-09-07T02:49:59Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > > [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > > > A friend said that she went to Sedaris’s sister’s yard sale (the baker). How wild is that? > > Amy Sedaris? I love her. Sadly, no. It was the sister in Somerville MA who is mentioned in **Me Talk Pretty One Day**. I can’t recall if her name was ever used… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-david-sedaris-brothers-floor-sanding-van/320249/19 "2005-09-07T15:24:31Z")
Yes, by all means, get Sedaris’s books on tape. His delivery is half, no, two-thirds of the fun. He was in town recently for a reading and book-signing, and I got to talk briefly with him. He has a basket on his table and asks for - but does not require - donations: “I have plenty of money already, but I’d like to have more, and I’ll like you more if you give me some.” If you put some money in his basket as you hand him a book for him to sign, he asks your name and says, very loudly, “Thank you, [name]!” Quite a funny guy.