American author David Sedaris came to Berlin for a reading of his new book, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls (Sprechen wir über Eulen- und Diabetes), which describes everyday life, strange interactions, and the annoyance of things like healthcare in such a humorously witty way that we can’t help but to laugh and then keep reading. He certainly did not disappoint during his night in Berlin, but as some of you fans figured out, the reading sold out pretty quickly and a lot of people had to miss it.

Every chair in the room filled up and people lined up against the walls. After trying out a few (surprisingly good) phrases in German, Sedaris first read his essay, “Dentists without Borders” about his trips to the dentist while living in France. Then he read one of his fiction monologues, “I Break for Traditional Marriage.” There are a few of those fiction pieces in the book, and although they break away from his personal essays, they’re just as likely to make you burst out in laughter. The German translator also read a couple, including “Standing By.” Sedaris ended with his funny poems about dogs, “Dog Days,” alternating with one in English and then another in German, which really benefitted the bilinguals in the room.

Sedaris stayed until all books were signed, and even took pictures with people who asked. Berlin was just one of the stops on the book tour, he also appeared in Hamburg, Cologne, and Zurich, and will be in Amsterdam before continuing in America.

If you haven’t yet, read the book! It comes in English and German. And if you want to read something earlier by him, check out Me Talk Pretty One Day or Naked, which are a couple of his well known books.