Sedaris's

Sedaris's right-place/right-time discovery is almost as well-known as his work.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

"The book is flawless," says Sedaris's sister Amy, herself a comedian, actress and author with her own culty worshipers who has collaborated with her brother on several projects.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

In Sedaris's last collection, "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," he recounts the indignities of a prolonged stay in Tokyo and being the worst student in his Japanese class.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

"The book is flawless," says Sedaris's sister Amy, herself a comedian, actress and author with her own culty worshipers who has collaborated with her brother on several projects.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

Sedaris's right-place/right-time discovery is almost as well-known as his work.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

These intimacies are so adored that a few years ago, when a New Republic reporter presented a meticulous story outlining how Sedaris's "nonfiction" was embellished, the literary community reacted with disgust not toward Sedaris but toward the reporter for questioning him.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

In Sedaris's last collection, "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," he recounts the indignities of a prolonged stay in Tokyo and being the worst student in his Japanese class.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

Inside Sedaris's left shirt pocket, he keeps an omnipresent notebook, a little spiral-bound one, in which he writes down everything that happens that might later be of use.

David Sedaris, sharing his slights-of-life tales Monica Hesse 2010

The Sedaris family takes in David's father's recently widowed Greek Orthodox mother, whom Sedaris's mother refers to as "The Gnome."

A David Sedaris primer Post 2010

Sedaris's attempts to mentor the 9-year-old in the next apartment go awry, particularly after she starts making fun of the "tool people" he creates out of balsa wood.

A David Sedaris primer Post 2010