I can't predict what's waiting for us, lurking on the other side of our late middle age, but I know it can't be good.
-- David Sedaris (Father Time)

Importance: Throughout the essay "Father Time," Sedaris wrestles with the implications of his elderly father's declining health. When Sedaris initially hears that his father has suffered an accident after the family grandfather clock, nicknamed Father Time, has fallen on him, he finds humor in the situation. However, over the course of the pages that follow, the episode assumes more esoteric implications. While lying in bed with his boyfriend one night not long later, Sedaris wonders about his and Hugh's own future declines. This moment not only conveys Sedaris's simultaneous capacity for humor and reflection, but contributes to his explorations concerning fragility, death, aging, and the future.

The shame, the guilt—it's overwhelming when you're a kid.
-- David Sedaris (Bruised)

Importance: While staying at Hugh's house in France at the start of...