On the eve of a 35-city national book tour, award-winning author David Sedaris admitted to fabricating parts of a short story entitled "Full House," which appeared in his recent book of short stories, "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim."
"Full House" purported to tell the story of an all-male slumber party that Sedaris was invited to during his teenage years in 1960s Raleigh, North Carolina. The party allegedly evolved into a game of strip poker, in which Sedaris was the winner. As a penalty, Sedaris required a fully naked boy to sit on his lap. The boys involved were 14 at the time.
"There truly was an all-male slumber party, and we did play cards," Sedaris said through a spokesperson. "But that's pretty much where truth ends and fantasy begins. This story was not really 'the Full Monty.'"
The well-known story has been included in many collections of teenage erotica.
Through a spokesperson, Sedaris said he wasn't playing with a "full deck" when he chose to include that story in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," and attributed the lapse to nicotine addiction. Sedaris has since quit smoking.
"I regret the deception and apologize to anyone who may have been offended," said the Mark Twain prize winner.
It isn't the first time Sedaris has been involved in a fabrication controversy. The most recent involved an article written by Alex Heard and published in the New Republic in which Sedaris was accused of fabricating the colors of several automobiles as well as fictionalizing various architectural styles.
Sedaris has said he exaggerates mostly dialogue in his writing, but contends the events and situations he writes about are true.
His embellishments are nothing, he said, compared to James Frey, whose memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," was partly fabricated.
Sedaris' publisher, Little Brown, said that it regrets the erroneous inclusion, adding that Sedaris is a "20th Century genius." Sedaris is the brother of Little, Brown author Amy Sedaris.
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