CULTURE
WORDSSARAH NORRISPHOTOGRAPHYALAMY032 VIRGIN AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2017
CLOCKWISE
FROM TOP David
Sedaris; Comme
des Garçons in
Tokyo; German
postcards; the
diarist’s most
recent work.American diarist and raconteur David Sedaris reveals his favourite
destinations — and the many quirks of spending life on the road.
An Open Book
David Sedaris
on Shopping“Tokyo has the best shopping
in the world. When you go to
Paris or any other major city,
it’s all chain places, but Japan
has a lot of individual shops.
It’s like, ‘Here’s my store
and everything looks like
a mushroom.’ And you think,
‘How on earth do you stay in
business?’ But I go back year
on year and it’s still there.
“There’s a store called
Kapital (www.kapital.jp).
They sell clothing that looks
like the previous owner was
shot and stabbed and thrown
into the ocean for a couple of
months. The stu is fantastic.
There’s also 45rpm (www.
45rpm.jp), Sunshine+Cloud
(www.sunshine-cloud.
com) and the museum shop
in the Watari Museum of
Contemporary Art (3-7-6
Jingumae, Shibuya) for shoes
and art. Comme des Garçons
(www.comme-des-garcons.
com) is everywhere, but have
a better selection in Japan.
“Then there’s Germany,
where you can always find
an amazing postcard. I don’t
mean of a church, I mean
a joke postcard with a caption
in German you cannot begin
to figure out. In Germany
last week I spent hundreds
on postcards. I have no idea
what they say, but because
they’re in German I think,
‘That must be profound’.”D
avid Sedaris is
funny. Not in the
way someone like
Tina Fey is, but in
a wry and self-deprecating
kind of way. It’s what the
New York-born humourist,
who turns 61 this month, has
built a career on — elevating
everyday anecdotes using
biting humour and reflection.
It’s been a successful
approach. His work has
featured on radio, in The New
Yo r k e r, and he’s had several
best-selling autobiographical
books including Dress Your
Family in Corduroy and Denim,
Naked and When You Are
Engulfed in Flames. His latest,
Thet by Finding: Diaries
(1977-2002), provides a rare
insight into the diary entries of
a unique and modern observer.
These days Sedaris lives
in England with long-time
partner Hugh Hamrick, but
book tours have him regularly
on the road. “I travel on an
average year to 90 cities,
meaning I’m probably flying
to 80 of them. When I have a
book out it’s up to 120 cities,”
says Sedaris in his signature
nasally voice, before adding,
“For the most part I’m looking
forward to — I mean, I am not
dreading — going away.”
Asked if he finds that
amount of travel challenging,
Sedaris says a good hotel is
paramount. In Australia, there’s
also another prerequisite.
“The thing is, I want a cup of
cofee,” he says. “I don’t want
a flat white, I don’t want an
Americano, I want a cup of
brewed cofee and that’s a
hard thing to get. In Australia,
you get a lot of lip — it’s like
people saying, ‘You know,
you have awful taste if you
call that cofee.’ I know what I
want and the place to get it is
Starbucks. That’s where I can
get a tanker of cofee.”
David Sedaris’s fourth book
tour of Australia takes in Perth
on 15 January; Sydney 18–19;
Melbourne 20–21; Canberra
23 and Brisbane 24. http://www.
davidsedarisbooks.com.