Naked (book)

Naked

First edition
Author	David Sedaris
Cover artist	Jacket design by Chip Kidd
Language	English
Genre	Essay collection
Publisher	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date	March 1997
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	291 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN	0-316-77949-0 (first edition, hardcover)
OCLC	35741397
Dewey Decimal	818/.5402 B 21
LC Class	PS3569.E314 Z469 1997
Preceded by	Barrel Fever
Followed by	Holidays on Ice

Naked, published in 1997, is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. The book details Sedaris’ life, from his unusual upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, to his booze-and-drug-ridden college years, to his Kerouacian wandering as a young adult. The book became a best-seller and was acclaimed for its wit, dark humor and irreverent tackling of tragic events, including the death of Sedaris’ mother. Prior to publication, several of the essays were read by the author on the Public Radio International program This American Life.

Naked won the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Non-Fiction from Publishing Triangle in 1998.

Background

After the success of his 1994 debut book Barrel Fever, David Sedaris was thrust into the public spotlight. He initially held onto his apartment-cleaning job in New York City, but when working on Naked, his followup essay collection, he regretfully quit the gig in order to focus on writing. Not wanting to be cooped up at home all day, he wrote the book in a variety of places, including France, Chicago, the Yaddo artists' community, and the nudist colony that informs the titular essay "Naked."

Much of Naked is about Sedaris's childhood and family. When asked how much of it was true, he admitted that he could not perfectly remember twenty-year-old conversations, and that he tended to be prone to exaggeration. However, he operated from the principle that real life was hard to beat when thinking about "really real absurdity." Although he slightly tweaked his family in his presentation of them, he believed that he needed to start with the honest truth of everything before he blew it up, or else it would feel empty. Sedaris also maintained that his mother was presented "pretty much verbatim," and that the diary he had been keeping for decades helped him write truthfully about his father.

Sedaris has said that many of the stories he tells in Naked came originally from his work with NPR, but he was not allowed to paint any kind of unpleasant mental picture while on the radio. For the book, he thus re-wrote various stories and "put those unpleasant mental pictures back in."

Contents

Chipped Beef

About the early life of the Sedaris family and David's hopes to one day be rich and famous. It is revealed that the family is actually middle class.

A Plague of Tics

As a child, David develops nervous tics and obsessive-compulsive habits, like licking light switches and kissing newspapers.

Get Your Ya-Ya's Out!

Ya-Ya, David's mildly senile grandmother, comes to live with the family after suffering an injury.

Next of Kin

David finds a pornographic novel, which circulates among his siblings until their mother confiscates and reads it.

Cyclops

David relates cautionary tales passed down from his relatives.

The Women's Open

David's sister has her first menses while at a golf championship.

True Detective

David's mother and sister are engrossed in detective television shows such as The Fugitive, and David undertakes some amateur detective work.

Dix Hill

David volunteers at the Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, where the residents' behavior ranges from submissive to violent.

I Like Guys

While at the Ionian Village, a summer camp in Greece, a teenage David realizes that he's gay when he develops a crush on a fellow camper.

The Drama Bug

David attempts acting after being introduced to Shakespeare by an actor's visit to his classroom. David finds that the playwright's florid Elizabethan language appeals to him, and starts to speak with a British accent.

Dinah, the Christmas Whore

Teenage David works at a cafeteria during his Christmas break. He and sister Lisa try to extricate a coworker from a domestic disturbance in the slums of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Planet of the Apes

David begins hitchhiking after he sees the film Planet of the Apes (1968).

The Incomplete Quad

David lives in a dormitory for disabled students at Kent State University. He and a quadriplegic woman hitchhike while posing as newlyweds.

C.O.G.

David gets a job cutting stone into clocks in the shape of Oregon. He teams up with a coworker who describes himself as a "COG" (Child of God), and they try to sell their stones at local craft fairs.

Something for Everyone

David refurbishes an apartment complex owned by a woman named Uta.

Ashes

David's sister marries; their mother, Sharon, is dying of cancer.

Naked

David visits a nudist colony.