Summary

The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Sedaris, David. Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002). Little, Brown and Company, 2017. Kindle Edition.

From the start of the book, readers are welcomed into Sedaris’ private thoughts chronicled in his personal diaries beginning in the year 1977 and continuing until 2002. Although the entries have been edited and curated by the author, the candid and sincere nature of his diary remains throughout. The heart of the book follows Sedaris’s complex journey to becoming an established author. Coupled with seemingly random observations, from the overheard secrets of strangers to soap opera plot lines, Sedaris offers an honest and introspective account of the true stories that would ultimately become the source material for many of his future works.

Beginning in the year 1977, the book depicts a young Sedaris who is far from the author he...