Story time: David Sedaris reads Miranda July

One of my favorite podcasts is The New Yorker Fiction Podcast, a monthly gem in which a well-known writer reads a short piece by another, often lesser-known writer. In this month’s fiction podcast, David Sedaris reads “Roy Spivey,” by the writer and filmmaker Miranda July. You may have seen her in the film she wrote and starred in, "You and Me and Everyone we Know," or the more recent "The Future." She's also published multiple short story collections, produced music videos and staged performances, and curated exhibits of her own work at  the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim. She even designed a set of pillowcases. And all this from someone who dropped out of college her sophomore year. Most people either worship or hate her, but the latter, as Sedaris says, are probably just jealous.

Miranda July: writer, filmmaker, performance artist.

I listened to this story during a leafy walk home from the grocery store. It made me smile to myself, causing passersby to give me curious looks. To quote the podcast website, "the story, which appeared in the The New Yorker in 2007, is about a young woman’s encounter with a famous actor aboard an airplane and the reverberations of their exchange throughout her life."

He slept for the first hour, and it was startling to see such a famous face look so vulnerable and empty. He had the window seat and I had the aisle, but I felt as though I were watching over him, protecting him from the bright lights and the paparazzi. Sleep, little spy, sleep. He was actually not little, but we're all children when we sleep. For this reason, I always let men see me asleep early on in the relationship. It makes them realize that even though I am 5 feet 11, I am fragile and need to be taken care of. A man who can see the weakness of a giant knows that he is a man indeed...

 This story is wonderfully written and wonderfully read. A meeting through words of two great contemporary American writers. Take a listen.