getting it

About five years ago, I'm not sure exactly when, a friend of a friend, someone I wasn't particularly close to, gave me a book by David Sedaris. It was a collection of essays entitled Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim. When I started reading it, it quickly became obvious to me that David Sedaris is gay. I mean, he's a gay writer. I mean, he writes about being gay.

I didn't get it.

A couple of years after I finished reading that book and set it aside, still wondering what it was all about, I found out that the person who gave me that book was-- guess what? Gay.

I felt compelled to read the book again, I'm not sure why. But I finally got it. The book is not just about being gay. It's about family, friendship, life and love. I liked it the second time around. So I bought another one of his books.

Shangri-la's Boracay Resort & Spa, 10 March 2011, 6:13PM

"That's Amore" by David Sedaris, from his book When You Are Engulfed In Flames: "Before moving to New York I spent six years in Chicago. During most of that time, I lived with my then boyfriend and, between the two of us, we seemed to know a fair number of people. There were wild dinners, wild parties-- always something fun and druggy going on. Never again would I have so many friends, and such good ones, though I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps I've grown less likable over the years, or maybe I've just forgotten how to meet people. The initial introduction-- the shaking-hands part-- I can still manage. It's the follow-up that throws me. Who calls whom, and how often? What if you decide after the second or third meeting that you don't really like this person? Up to what point are you allowed to back out? I used to know these things, but now they're a mystery."

Sedaris reminds me of Salinger, actually.

Related posts:
1. Real love, according to David Sedaris
2. Parents, according to J.D. Salinger
3. Marriage, according to J.D. Salinger