In the middle of writing about pessimism, David Rakoff finds out that the burning pain in his shoulder, that pinched nerve...

... is a tumor. Here he is — bald and hilarious — talking about his book. Watch for the reference to the Roberts Court...

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David Rakoff
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You can buy the book — "Half Empty" — here. I highly recommend the audio version. His reading style is very funny — and also easy to sleep to (which is 2/3 of the reason why I buy audiobooks).

I discovered that book after watching David Sedaris on "The Daily Show" and going off to buy "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk" — which you can buy here. Again, the audiobook is highly recommended — but "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk" isn't easy to sleep to because it's tricked up with a lot of music... and also actors read some of the stories and actors try so hard. It's wakefulness-provoking.

"I love audiobooks, in part because I’m lazy and in part because I’m not."

"Rather than sitting still and moving my eyes over a page, I like to roam around and do stuff—iron, say, or defrost my freezer. I take walks, I soak in the tub, I turn up the volume and vacuum."

Says David Sedaris, who goes on to list audiobooks he likes because of the perfect match between the reader and the material. I agree with Sedaris about the lazy/unlazy quality of listening to audiobooks and want to add what he can't say, which is that his own writing and reading are a brilliant match.

"Hello, Mr. President we honor you today! For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say 'hooray!'"

All right, now, I'm really outraged. It's one thing to lead the little children to sing the praises of our leader. It's quite another to make them learn lines like that.

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If you think "doth" is funny, listen to the David Sedaris segment of "The Drama Bug" episode of "This American Life."