April Wallace joins Kyle Kellams in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio to talk cultural recommendations. This week: David Sedaris.
Kyle Kellams: April Wallace, who we're going to call our culture vulture because you're looking for cultural items and suggesting them to us. Last time we concentrated on Dan Levy and three of his programs, plus the book "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans. What are we going to talk about this week?
April Wallace: This week, I'd love to talk about David Sedaris. He recently had a new release come out, "The Land and Its People." And while I haven't gotten to it yet, I thought we could discuss him. He's a very interesting person and has written so much in his life and actually comes to Fayetteville pretty regularly.
Kellams: Almost every book tour he somehow gets into Walton Arts Center or close to Fayetteville somehow.
Wallace: Yeah, I first saw him speak — I think 2008 was one of the first times I remember him coming — and he's irreverent and hilarious.I think he comes by it a little naturally. He's in a family of five siblings, and his sister Amy Sedaris is also a comedian. And what I love about his work is that it's very real. But he's just such a keen observer of people and of life and so detailed. Pretty much anything he writes, I will read, because it's unpretentious. And it's interesting because he sees things that not everybody would catch. He had times as a performer, as an artist and in some comedy. I would say that seeing him on a book tour is like seeing stand-up comedy, almost. He does readings, but it is very entertaining and very funny and meant to get reactions out of people.
But for me, the main event is to be in his book line.
Kellams: Tell me about this, because I've never done that. Here's the thing, April — of all the people I've either interviewed on stage, I've never, ever gotten an author to sign a book. And I'm not anti it. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I just have never done it.
Wallace: Well, I have to say, this would be quite an experience that you would have to budget some time for. Because being in a David Sedaris book line is an experience. People wait as long as it takes, and there's a reason that it takes so long.
When he was a young writer himself and not yet famous — this is pre "Santaland Diaries."
Kellams: Which we first heard on public radio.
Wallace: I listen to that every Christmas while I'm making holiday treats. It's my favorite tradition.
Wallace: When he was young and not yet famous, he went to see one of his favorite authors give a talk at a bookstore. There was not a huge line. He wanted a little extra time with this person, whoever it was. And they were not gracious. They were a little flippant. He got the book signed, but it wasn't very personal. And he walked away saying, when I am famous, I will not let them outstay their welcome. I will give so much time. All I want them to walk away being like, no, really, I've got to go. Thank you.
And so it takes usually a couple hours to get through that line. The first time that I got to speak to him in the book line was in 2008. And I was a college student at the time. He likes to get a reaction out of people. So I came up to him all nervous for the very first time. "Do you have any words of wisdom for an aspiring writer?" And he asked whether I had written for my high school newspaper. Well, mine didn't have one, so I said no. And he's like, "Oh, well, you missed your chance." Twenty-year-old me was horrified. And then I became a writer.
Kellams: Did you get to tell him you went to Rosebud?
Wallace: No, he would have loved that. But the dangerous thing is that he sometimes uses these interactions in his books, because a lot of it is from his life. So I'll tell you about my last time being in his book line that I was afraid would wind up in one of his books. So if it's in "The Land and Its People," we'll see.
This was 2023, and I went by myself because my kids were super small and I just needed it to be my husband's turn. It was moms night out. Enjoyable evening listening. And then of course, the couple hours in the book line. We're like 90 minutes in and I get to my turn and he asks if I speak any other languages. Common question — he speaks a couple different languages, certainly French. And so he asked people this a lot. I said, well, I have some Spanish. And he asked if I use it on a regular basis. Like, a little bit, because in Springdale my kids go to school with others who speak Spanish. And we have little markets. And he's like, well, some people really don't like that. And I was like, well, I think it's wonderful. And that my kids just learn about other cultures and ways of life. And Springdale, because we have a lot of Spanish and Marshallese neighbors.
But he didn't know that we had a Marshallese community. So he was like, Marshallese. What's Marshallese? Clearly baiting me, right? Well, I was super tired. And he's like, tell me, explain this to me. So my tired brain was like, well, we bombed them in the Cold War and they had to come live with us.
Kellams: Let's say when you get the new book and you open it up, let's say you see that. Won't that be kind of a compliment?
Wallace: It might be. I should just take it as that.
Kellams: But I love that he asks not yes or no questions. They're open ended. And I think that's entertaining for him — not in a make-fun-of-you way. But when you talk with someone, I want to have a connection with them. I don't want it to just be cookie cutter. And I'm sure that it tells him a lot about the area.
I did drag my husband through the book line more recently than that, in the most recent time that he came. And honestly, he was dreading it because he knew there would be something. But it's always enjoyable.
Kellams: All right. We also have a question.
Wallace: What is the appropriate length for a movie? Why is it that 90 minutes was the gold standard in the '90s, and now when I go to the movie theater it is two and a half to three hours?
Kellams: For me, the ideal time is just under two hours, because I want to invest in the movie. I understand that if it's something epic like "Oppenheimer" or "Lincoln" or one of my favorite Marvel movies, it's going to go longer. I'll go. I think anything longer I'll put as a multi-chapter story on Netflix or HBO. Just finished watching "Death by Lightning" on Netflix. It's based on the book "Destiny of a Republic," about President Garfield and Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated him. It was four episodes that were each about 45, 46 minutes long. Perfect. I wouldn't have wanted to watch a three hour and 45 minute movie. But I want longer than 90 because I want you to develop some characters for me, develop some suspense or something else. So I'm going to say an hour and 52 minutes is the ideal time.
Wallace: Three hours is a little long for me, partly because if I'm going to a movie that I really want to see, I'm probably not bringing my kids. So that means I'm away from them for an extraordinary amount of time. There's something really nice about the 90-minute movie. I like how it has to get to the point and tell me without too much fluff.
Kellams: Well, if you can tell a story in 90 minutes succinctly and well, you've done a good job. It makes me think of the quote that is probably apocryphally given to Mark Twain — if I had more time, I'd write a shorter letter. It's harder, I think, to make that excellent 90-minute movie.
Kellams: Here's where you and I would agree, though, because I know that you happen to be a fan of "The Godfather." And both "The Godfather" and "Godfather Part II" are longer than three hours, aren't they?
Wallace: They are. Multiple VHS tapes.
Kellams: But you wouldn't want either of those movies to be shorter.
Wallace: No, I wouldn't.
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