At the time of publication, he revealed in an interview with WBUR that there was one particular story he had decidedly turned against: his famous essay "Santaland Diaries," which he eulogized by saying "I actually excluded it and I wanted its feelings to be hurt.

"[5] Talking to the Houston Chronicle, Sedaris explained that lots of his older work makes him cringe, and that even essays which were only a decade old could surprise him with how dated they are.

Sedaris further told WBUR that the book was originally intended to only be an audio collection, and his process of choosing what to include was as simple as considering which ones he looked forward to reading out loud.

He applauded the author's decision to craft a collection of personal stories about love and family, rather than a "rock-star journey" that included famous works like "Santaland Diaries."

[1] Heller McAlpin of The Christian Science Monitor also praised the work, similarly highlighting its progression from "outrageous, escalating rants of unhinged characters" into more personal material.