The accidental book collection: from the airwaves to the page

The most enjoyable book collections can begin inadvertently. Mine started that way. I became mesmerized by radio dramatist Joe Frank’s odd and inventive tales of everyday people. When I discovered Frank had penned a collection of short stories, I immediately set out to find the out-of-print The Queen of Puerto Rico. Little did I know it then, but thus began my hobby as a collector of books by public radio personalities.

Years later, a friend recommended Naked, the collection of autobiographical shorts by David Sedaris that details his life growing up as a young gay man in a dysfunctional Greek-American family in the American South. I was hooked by Sedaris’s hilariously irreverent and insightful humor. After attending many of Sedaris’s speaking engagements, I found myself with signed first editions of Barrel Fever, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and—the perfect holiday gift for the cynic on your list—Holidays on Ice. (Experience Sedaris on NPR, where you can click a link and listen to him reading “SantaLand Diaries” from Holidays on Ice.)

I discovered Sarah Vowell, radio personality and fairly nascent star of Pixar’s The Incredibles, when I heard her read aloud from Take the Cannoli at an L.A. book fair. Intrigued by Vowell’s quick wit and acumen for democracy, American history, and all things pop culture, I grabbed a signed copy of Take the Cannoli. Since then, I’ve had Vowell sign copies of The Partly Cloudy Patriot and Assassination Vacation at additional readings. (If you’d like a good laugh, listen to Sarah on NPR, where she reads the preface from the hilarious and wry Assassination Vacation.)

Rounding out my NPR-related collection are two works by self-deprecating humorist, David Rakoff (listen to him here). I’ve managed to obtain copies of Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems. Now when I glance at my book collection, I see an entire shelf devoted to stories that migrated from the airwaves to print.