Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002

Theft by Finding gathers twenty-five years of David Sedaris's private diary entries, beginning with his early adulthood in North Carolina and ending as an established writer in London. The entries track his daily observations through stints as a fruit picker, a performance artist, and a writing student in Chicago. He documents his struggles with drug use, his various minimum-wage jobs, and his eventual rise to public attention. The text consists of unpolished notes and anecdotes about the odd behaviors of strangers, his family members, and his partner, Hugh.

This book is for readers who value observational humor and the process of drafting a creative life. It serves as a record of how mundane interactions are captured and later refined into narrative essays. Readers see the raw material of Sedaris's career and walk away with a timeline of his sobriety and professional development. It appeals to those interested in the mechanics of diary-keeping and the repetitive, often absurd occurrences that characterize the human experience over two decades.