Summary

1996 opens with Sedaris documenting Amy’s New Year’s resolution, which was to make more Asian friends. Sedaris noted that it is great to have a goal.

At the end of January, Sedaris began to suffer from writer’s block. He writes, “It really is torture to sit around the house and write all day. I’m thinking it might motivate me to finish the book faster, the thought that after it’s finished I can return to housecleaning. The problem is that I haven’t even started the book yet” (319).

In May, Sedaris received a call from a stranger who said that he had read Sedaris’s book and wanted him to come clean his house. Sedaris offered to give the man Bart’s number, but the man restated that he just wanted him. In exchange, the man said that he would give Sedaris...