Humorist David Sedaris, author of best-selling books "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" and "Naked," is adored for his witty, eccentric autobiographical essays. Recently, the veracity of Sedaris's stories was called into question.
"The New Republic" ran an article last week entitled "This American Lie," a reference to Sedaris's contributions to the National Public Radio program "This American Life." Author Alex Heard wrote that Sedaris exaggerated and fabricated certain events in his essays, and he questioned whether Sedaris's books were worthy of the label "nonfiction."
"Everything in 'Naked' was true," Sedaris said in a 1999 interview, according to Heard. "I mean, I exaggerate. But all the situations were true."
Heard tested Sedaris's claim by fact-checking his essays. He began with Sedaris's story "Dix Hill," an account of volunteering at Dorothea Dix Sanitarium.
In the story, Sedaris's mother commanded 13-year-old Sedaris to find a summer job. He chose the sanitarium. Upon arrival, he was immediately put to work -- with no training beforehand -- strapping an old woman to a gurney.
"When the sheet was lifted, I was shocked to discover that this woman was naked," Sedaris wrote. "I had never before seen a naked woman and hesitated just long enough for her to lurch forward and sink her remaining three teeth into my forearm."
Finding the story too outrageous to be true, Heard called a former nurse. According to Heard, she said the sanitarium was actually named Dorothea Dix hospital, the volunteer program was well-organized and Sedaris was "lying through his teeth!"
Then, he called Sedaris.
Heard wrote that Sedaris admitted to inventing the scene in order to make the story funnier. When asked what his real responsibilities were, Sedaris reportedly answered, "It would have been more like helping set up parties."
What's a Sedaris fan to think?
"He reminds me of Dave Barry, in that some things are taken from his own life and others are twisted," first-year College student Samantha Stafford said. "But [Barry] doesn't call them autobiographical. [Sedaris] should say his writing is 'based on true experiences' ... if all of his stories are based on as little fact as this example."
Sedaris's embellishments are not unheard of, however. For example, how many of us believe a stand-up comedian's wife is as awful as he claims she is? The humor lies in the hyperbole.
Yet Dave Eggers, author of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," prefaces his book with a disclaimer saying that not everything in the book is true. The alternate title of the novel is "A Heartbreaking Work ofStaggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story." Should Sedaris have made the same claim?
Third-year College student Andrew Cedermark said he was not disturbed by the news as the books are for entertainment.
"The act of fabricating is misleading, but his lies reveal a greater human truth," Cedermark said, adding that to have value, an autobiography does not need to be entirely true.
In the age of "A Million Little Pieces" and Oprah's consequential smack down, perhaps some of us are quick to accuse. Yet others believe exaggeration is an acceptable, and undeniably hilarious, literary device.
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