A virtual date with David Sedaris

One of the great things about YouTube is that you no longer need to worry about making your way to a bookstore to hear an author read his works. In fact, the writers themselves no longer need to worry about going to the bookstores, either. The whole thing can easily be accomplished on YouTube.

However, as David Sedaris tells Heller McAlpin in today's audio interview recorded for the Monitor, he still keeps a pretty exhausting schedule of live author appearances. He'll be traveling around the world over the course of the next few months, reading from his new book "Engulfed in Flames" and giving lectures.

But should you not make it to any of Sedaris's appearances, you do have plenty of chances to sample him on the internet. I like this reading of his essay "City of Angels" probably because like Sedaris I lived in New York for a couple of decades and racked up my own series of stories about out-of-town guests.

If other topics intrigue you more, however, you'll have plenty of choices. Just go to YouTube and take a look. There is no shortage of Sedaris there.