A strange and hilarious journey through one man’s life

You only get to page 6 of Theft by Finding before author David Sedaris fesses up, “I don’t really expect anyone to read this from start to finish” and, on page 19, where the diary entry for April 19, 1978, consists of nothing more than the word “uh” written consecutively 220 times, you can readily understand why.

However, somewhere along the line, this diary of a drug-addled (he’s tried everything) drop out who picks fruit, works on building sites (not very well) or perhaps can be found in a restaurant clearing tables got to me. I kept wanting to know just when he’d get out of his hobo Steinbeck-like existence where paying his phone bill and rent (when not sleeping under the stars) would be a simple thing and not find him without communications and/or looking for new digs.

The fact that he’s homosexual and frequently finds himself in difficult situations in that regard only adds a lustre to the tale but there’s no lurid detail here; just the fact that he had sex last night but, the at-times appalling details are when he describes the extreme racists and terrible misogynists that flow through his life.

Money worries are a constant, though “worry” is probably not an apt word because he has no concept of planning ahead and it’s only when situations reach a crisis that he actually might do something about it.

All through the read, there is a constant thread of humour. Like unexpected chocolate treats, they pop up before your eyes and you feel good while consuming them and want more. It should be added though that it drips with sarcasm and often is the humour of the street – “A bumper sticker I saw on a car: This ain’t the Mayflower, but your daughter sure came across on it.”

He gets accepted at a University in Chicago and we get to see the seediest side of that town in addition to his native Raleigh (North Carolina). Ultimately he gets to teach at the Uni (the blind leading the blind?) and to have been in one of his classes was certainly different to any lessons I ever had.

There are gaps in the book that leave you wondering. What was he doing over those six months? Arrested? Living on the street? Rehab? Eventually, he starts getting ahead in life; achieves some fame for writing comedy scripts with his sister and gets writing gigs here and there so you assume he’s actually starting to make money.

He later moves to New York and flits between there and Europe (mainly France) and his French lessons at times had me in hysterics – “Today I turned in my paper on social customs. In it, I wrote that on the eve of an American man’s wedding, it is customary for his parents to cut off two of his fingers and bury them near the parking lot. The groom has eight hours in which to find them, and if he does, it means that the marriage will last.” Fans of Spike Milligan and Monty Python will love this.

At least he gives up alcohol and drugs while realising that will open up new vistas for him, like walking around Paris at night. That said, he continues to smoke.

Success is something that pops up now and then, though it’s never mentioned as such. He’s very popular at book signings and random people ring him up, amazing how they chase up his phone number. Towards the end, he’s flying first class so you know he’s made it somehow, somewhere, because he’s doing book signings and readings from San Francisco to Budapest.

The only infuriating thing for me is, Hugh is his partner, but as for the other 50 people mentioned, I’d only be guessing. If there was a page listing the main characters, that would have made it even more acceptable for me but, I love the book.

David Sedaris is irreverent and caring at the same time, openly wants to help but often couldn’t care less. His observations on life are always entertaining and frequently witty. I’m so looking forward to the next instalment.

Theft by Finding by David Sedaris (published by Hachette Australia) is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.