Lovers of the humor essay can rejoice. David Sedaris is on tour promoting his latest collection, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.” Mlive recently conducted an interview with the beloved satirist and he was very revealing about how he approaches writing about personal topics such as his husband and family.

When discussing his husband, Hugh, Sedaris says that he understands that nothing truly embarrassing will ever be written about him. “I’m not going to describe what he looks like naked or anything.” Sedaris says. What he does find challenging is what could be termed a slight lack of enthusiasm on the part of Hugh, who can be something of a “killjoy.” Hugh seeks perfection, but Sedaris never thought he “had a shot at perfection.”

Sedaris speaks of the seemingly disparate personal events he relates to one another in the span of a few pages. He contrasts his style with that of “This American Life” – a show he has appeared on many times – where stories cut right to the chase. Sedaris compares his own writing to The Simpsons, which he loves for the fact that  “you watch the first 4-5 minutes, and you have no idea where the show is going.”

Sedaris also discusses the article he wrote for the New Yorker, “Now We Are Five” about the death of his sister, Tiffany. He says that while he does not consider writing cathartic, he does use writing to make sense out of the senseless. He discusses how his family dealt with their grief and how no one barred him from publishing the story, for which he is very grateful.

To read more about Sedaris’s feelings on race, writing and why he dedicated this new book to his sister Amy, check out the original article at Mlive.

Benjamin Mautner’s Crunchbase.