Wit & Wisdom
Acclaimed authors share their work at the Museum and around the Metroplex
Dave Isay, February 9, 7:30 p.m.
Sarah Vowell, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
Christopher Moore, April 10, 7:30 p.m.
David Sedaris, April 22, 7:30 p.m.
H. W. Brands & Mark K. Updegrove, May 9, 7:30 p.m.
 
Dave IsayThursday, February 9, 7:30 p.m.
Horchow AuditoriumHailed as “one of the best radio artisans in the business,” Dave Isay is best known as the founder of StoryCorps. Modeled—in spirit and in scope—on the efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930s, StoryCorps conducts oral history interviews across the United States. To date, it has recorded more than thirty thousand interviews among more than sixty thousand Americans in all fifty states and several American territories. Isay has been documenting the lives of ordinary Americans for the past twenty years. His books include Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project, as well as 12 American Voices. Isay is the recipient of five Peabody Awards, a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. At this event, he will share interviews from and discuss his newest book, All There Is, which conveys stories of love and marriage and the remarkable paths that relationships can take. In the courage of people’s passion, we are reminded of the strength and resilience of the human spirit. This powerful collection bears witness to real love in its varied forms, enriching our understanding of that magical feeling, just in time for Valentine’s Day. “I try to be the vehicle through which people’s stories can be heard. What I’m looking for is poetry on the margins.” —Dave Isay Ticket Prices
Full $37
Reduced $32
Student $15 Purchase tickets online or call 214-922-1818.
 
Sarah Vowell
in conversation with Krys BoydTuesday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Dallas408 Park Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75201Community Partner:  According to David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell has pioneered a new category, “funny historian.” Her books—which include The Wordy Shipmates, Take the Cannoli, and Assassination Vacation—examine the connections between the American past and present. She offers personal, often humorous accounts of everything from presidents and their assassins to colonial religious fanatics, as well as thoughts on American Indians, utopian dreamers, pop music, and the odd cranky cartographer. Sarah Vowell is equally well known for her frequent contributions to Public Radio International’s This American Life. She served as a contributing editor from 1996 to 2008, and her many pieces range in subject from traveling the Trail of Tears with her sister to her own Goth makeover. Her distinctive voice also earned her the part of the introverted teenager Violet Parr in Pixar’s award-winning animated film The Incredibles. Her latest book, Unfamiliar Fishes, winds through the political, cultural, and religious influences that led up to the annexation of Hawaii in 1898. The Boston Globe praised Unfamiliar Fishes, saying, “Vowell is a national treasure, exploring the depths of what it means to be American. Witty, irreverent, and wry, Unfamiliar Fishes is a heartfelt examination of the American Dream, told with a slight roll of the eyes in a way that only Vowell can do.” “It’s not that I try to make history entertaining, although I do. It’s that I see it as inherently entertaining, and part of the fun of my job is sharing that with other people.” —Sarah Vowell Ticket Prices
Full $37
Reduced $32
Student $15 Purchase tickets online or call 214-922-1818.
  Christopher MooreTuesday, April 10, 7:30 p.m.
Horchow AuditoriumIs Christopher Moore the clown prince of contemporary fiction? Thirteen books featuring the most outlandish plots and outrageous characters ever may earn him the title. This cheerfully demented writer’s absurdist fiction has earned him comparisons to master satirists like Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams. Moore is a scrupulous researcher. In pursuit of realistic details to ground his fiction, he has immersed himself in marine biology, death rituals, Biblical scholarship, and Goth culture. For his latest title, Sacré Bleu, he traveled to Paris, London, and Italy, where, to quote Moore, “it turns out they keep a lot of the art discussed in this book.” The title is French for sacred blue, the hue named for the cloak of the Virgin Mary—made from crushed lapis lazuli and infused with danger, adventure, and perhaps supernatural powers. Sacré Bleu is a wonderfully witty masterpiece—a tale of intrigue, passion, and art history filled with crusty bread, can-can girls, absinthe, Toulouse Lautrec, fin de siècle Paris, and many other French accoutrements. Moore will discuss his foray into art history in his inimitable satirical style, undoubtedly wearing his trademark Hawaiian shirt. “My default setting is humor. In other words, even in some pretty dire circumstances I tend to react by making fun. I’ve tried to write straight fiction and always end up wise-cracking. It’s what I do. I am always going to have a bit of the flavor of a cult writer, or at least I hope so, in that I want my readers to feel as if they are on the inside of an inside joke.” —Christopher Moore 6:30 p.m. Enjoy a tour of the collection featuring artists making appearances in Sacré Bleu.
Ticket Prices
Full $37
Reduced $32
Student $15
Purchase tickets online or call 214-922-1818.
   David SedarisSunday, April 22, 7:30 p.m.
McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
Southern Methodist University
6405 Boaz Lane
Dallas, Texas 75275Community Partner: Bestselling author and satirist David Sedaris will return to Dallas with new and unpublished material for a fourth consecutive year. Known as the rock star of writers as well as one of the most prolific comedic authors of today, his speaking engagements around the world are consistently sold out. With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, Sedaris has become one of America’s preeminent humor writers. Sedaris easily finds humor in the imperfection of the human condition, making his work both relevant and relatable. His ability to hit a main artery of truth shows how life is—well, just funny sometimes. David Sedaris has been making America laugh for the past twenty years with books such as Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice, Naked, and Me Talk Pretty One Day. Sedaris’s pieces appear regularly in the New Yorker and have twice been included in The Best American Essays. His latest book, a collection of fables entitled Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Wicked Bestiary (with illustrations by Ian Falconer), immediately hit the New York Times bestseller list in fiction. Booklist raved about Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, saying, “The ancient Greeks had Aesop, seventeenth-century French people read the fables of La Fontaine, and now we, jaded inhabitants of the modern era, possess the distinct privilege to enjoy the beloved Sedaris’ first collection of short animal tales.” “The preeminent humorist of his generation. . . . His reluctant charm and talent for observing every inch
of the human condition remain intact.” —Entertainment Weekly
Ticket Prices
Ticket prices are based on seat location and range from $25 to $65
Purchase tickets online or call 214-922-1818.
    H. W. Brands & Mark K. UpdegroveWednesday, May 9, 7:30 p.m.
Horchow AuditoriumAs the author of twenty-two works of nonfiction, it seems there is little that H. W. Brands doesn’t know about our country’s history. Two of his books, Traitor to His Class and The First American, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Brands’ newest book, The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, is the second in his American Portraits series, a collection of books that “take moments and individuals who have interesting stories on their own, stories that are gripping in their own right, and use them to illuminate certain themes in American history.” The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr tells the story of Burr after his famous duel with Alexander Hamilton: of his exile, his devotion to his daughter, and his return to the United States. Brands currently teaches American History at the University of Texas at Austin. Born in Philadelphia, Mark K. Updegrove has loved presidential history ever since he attended the United States bicentennial celebration in 1976. It wasn’t long before he was collecting presidential autographs with the same passion his friends sought the signatures of professional athletes. He is the author of Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House and Baptism by Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis. In 2009 he became the Director of the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, the fourth director since its opening in 1971. His newest book is Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency. Updegrove’s enthusiasm for presidential history is evident in this comprehensive oral history of LBJ, which he hopes will burnish the legacy of a president he considers underrated and underappreciated. “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.” —Harry S. Truman Ticket Prices
Full $37
Reduced $32
Student $15 Purchase tickets online or call 214-922-1818.
Arts & Letters Live is presented by  .
Additional support provided by the Kay Cattarulla Endowment for the Literary and Performing Arts at the Dallas Museum of Art, TACA, The Hoglund Foundation, The Eugene McDermott Foundation, Annual Series Supporters, and Friends of the Dallas Public Library.
Air transportation provided in part by American Airlines. Hotel accommodations provided in part by The Adolphus. In-kind partners include ArtsDistrictDining.com and Einstein Printing. Promotional support is provided by and 
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