Now that NPR has begun fact checking his work, it’s come to light that David Sedaris is a liar. Or, he sort of embellishes. His work is ‘realish.’ So basically, he tells stories. On NPR. Which is feeling pretty sensitive abut the line between truth and truthiness after the Mike Daisey upset.
Truthiness and the Realish
Nicole Dennis-Benn Moves Forward
Nicole Dennis-Benn discusses her latest book, Patsy, a novel that explores issues of motherhood, the working class, sexual identity, and immigration.
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Reel Results
Hanah Anderson and Matt Daniels analyzed two thousand screenplays for their representation of gender and age. Check out their data here. Pair with a recent piece from our own Bill Morris on the Hollywood biopic.
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Dolly Parton’s Song Roars with Need / And Envy
The University of Tennessee will offer history students a seminar on Dolly Parton’s life, so this is as good a time as any to revisit Sherman Alexie’s poem, “Ode to Jolene.”
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Samuel Beckett Wears Short Shorts
From the Sentences We Thought We’d Never Write Department: Samuel Beckett shows some leg.
Patron Saint of Decency & Feminism
Fanny Trollope, Anthony’s mother, taught America a thing or two about decency and feminism: her scathing pen wrote books about the excesses of American society and its alienation of women. Over at Bloom, Cynthia Miller Coffel writes about this trailblazing woman who should be considered “the patron saint of middle aged women writers.”
“Both a gem and a bomb”
Recommended Reading: this excerpt of Tim Parrish’s new book (with accompanying self-interview).
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Sedaris is a humorist, working in a long, honored tradition. Did people think James Thurber or Mark Twain didn’t exaggerate? Exaggeration is the crux of humor. NPR, sigh.