the 941

For the Starbucks haters…

Well, this is a new strategy when it comes to reprimanding “bat shit crazy” celebs.

Slate women discuss American Girl dolls.

An interview with David Sedaris for your Sunday.

Coming in August, Ebony Mag presents “the 25 coolest brothers of all time.” (Three guesses as to who’s their cover boy.)

Nursing a hangover? Finishing off a corndog? Firing off the last of the firecrackers? Round out your weekend by helping the Two Coreys pound the stink out of each other, a la Mortal Kombat.

What will be the first to go for you, a pricier chicken breast or a expensive hi-tech toy?

Politico’s take on those switching teams.

And to finish off your long weekend, “How to shut down an internet argument,” courtesy of Gawker.com. Quoting verbatim, “Just post this video, each and every time, when things appear to be getting out of hand in a comments thread or whatever. Makes everyone involved feel stupid.”

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Milwaukee’s alt-weekly, Shepherd Express, just did a cover story on David Sedaris, who came under fire a few weeks back for embellishing his stories. Cooper wasn’t happy, but the Shep seemed to be okay with it.

If The New Republic was hoping for a James Frey-styled takedown of Sedaris, however, they didn’t get it. Published last month under the headline “This American Lie,” Heard’s article was received coldly by readers who, given the sensational title, perhaps expected more smoking guns. The Washington Post’s Peter Carlson deemed the piece “truly ridiculous.”

“Brace yourself now,” he wrote, unveiling his summary of Heard’s conclusion: “Sedaris exaggerates for comic effect!

“I’m shocked,” Carlson added, “shocked!”

Sedaris has also brushed off the article.

“For as long as I’ve been going on these tours and publishing books, people have asked, ‘Is every word of what you write true?’” he says. “And I always say, ‘No, I exaggerate like crazy.’ And I’ve said that in interviews, and I’ve said that on stage, and I’ve said it over and over and over again. This guy wrote this article saying, ‘He exaggerates!’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I told you I did.’”

There’s a Q&A as well, which doesn’t delve to deeply (read: at all) into the issue, but that ommission makes the point just the same. Sedaris to Coop: calm down.

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Look familiar?

+ The Duke lax players get the ultimate “I told you so.” [cnn]
+ Johnny Cash’s house burns; Telegraph’s headline writer can’t help herself. [telegraph]
+ The only way dying could get worse. [americablog]
+ Herbert says you shouldn’t have been shocked by Imus. [nyt]
+ We blog crazy! Brian gets in on the act. [eat my florida]
+ A South Park dream, Hillary’s “sex parts” meet a nuclear missle, has almost come true. [defamer]
+ Scandal within a scandal: How the Bush Administration uses e-mail to avoid public records about plans to, oh, I dunno, fire U.S. attorneys for political purposes. [nyt]
+ Shafer on the state of Sedaris. [press box]
+ Kurt Vonnegut obit round-ups. [google news] [technorati]

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After Alex Heard publicly prosecuted pop culture memoirist and storyteller David Sedaris for crimes against the truth in a recent issue of The New Republic [subscription required], commentators have weighed in on whether or not Sedaris’ offenses are as grave as those of, say, Oprah-boosted liar James Frey. J. Peder Zane shrugs at the affair, defending Sedaris by essentially declaring a special status for humorists: They aren’t bound by the same rules as other “nonfiction” authors (i.e. they can make shit up). Gawker concurs, offering a justification along the lines of, “We all knew it wasn’t true all along.” Sedaris himself weighed in during an interview, calling Heard “incompetent” and claiming he’s never hid the fact that he exaggerated in his stories. Heard fired back, claiming that Sedaris himself confirmed that he had outright fabricated several episodes, rather than simply exaggerating for comic effect. (For the record and in the mood for truthfulness, several of these links come courtesy Zane’s blog, here.) Why are so many journalists jumping to defend someone who sells bullshit as nonfiction?

(more…)

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