"... or when in another’s book he drew a picture of a three-legged bear with blood spewing from its stump because, he said, it had stepped on a land mine; or when he wrote 'you will not be alone forever' in the book of a fan who said she was single. Nor did anyone mind when he asked a (nonpregnant) woman if she might have an abortion this summer and then advised her to 'do it while you still can, because you may not be able to have one in the future'; or when he wrote 'you’re using that cane as a crutch' to a reader with a limp; or when he said, 'What happened to your mother — is she dead?' to a man named Richard, who wanted a book signed for his father. 'She is to him,' Richard said. Mr. Sedaris drew a little person and gravestone with 'R.I.P.' written on it. 'Here is your father looking at the ashes of his failed marriage,' he explained."

From "David Sedaris Leaves His Audiences Weeping. And Still Wanting More" (NYT), which has an audio snippet from Sedaris's new book, "Calypso" (which, of course, I will buy... he's my favorite voice for playing under my pillow every night... it's what keeps me sharp and well-rested).