This post was written by Hatchet reporter Carly Stern

David Sedaris, known for his socially insensitive satire, shared blunt and self-deprecating stories with a sold-out Lisner crowd on Friday. But his most memorable moments centered on how he and his family coped with his sister’s suicide this summer.

Sedaris read from several pieces he’s published over his decades-long career, touching on themes from European oddities to bra removal.

The most startling and emotional point of the night came when Sedaris spoke candidly about the death of his sister Tiffany. An essay he wrote about his family’s experience, called “Now We Are Five,” will debut in The New Yorker this week.

He juxtaposed childhood memories spent at a North Carolina beach with a more recent trip after her death, demonstrating the unique way his family honored and remembered his sister.

He described his family’s trip to her apartment after she died, when they found family photos torn up. After packing her old belongings, Sedaris’ father remarked on her lack of remaining material possessions.

“A person’s life reduced to one lousy box. Actually, there are two of them. Two lousy boxes,” Sedaris remembers his father saying.

Growing up in a tight-knit family with six children, Sedaris joked that on the weekends his siblings didn’t go on dates. “And leave the family?!”

Rather than attend a traditional memorial service, they honored Tiffany by laying on their childhood beach blanket, trading stories and, of course, tanning.

While the author sullenly admitted to being out of touch with Tiffany for several years, he still struggled with the question “how could anyone purposefully leave us?”

Sedaris then added, “We are better than everyone else!”

One way to cope was a spur-of-the-moment purchase of a family beach house, which they dubbed “The Sea Section.” After all, Sedaris explained, “you make your family happy and iron out the details later.”

But the tone of the night remained upbeat, not somber, as Sedaris told stories about tours across Europe and the U.S. for hundreds of book signings.

For example, while traveling around Europe, he witnessed parents addressing their children as “cunts” as a term of endearment. In the Netherlands, Sedaris discovered that a common insult for reckless drivers is the expression “cancer whore.” (However, the term “diabetes slut” is considered outrageously inappropriate.)

While signing a book in the U.S., Sedaris said a boy once requested a “shocking and offensive” inscription for his mother.

Sedaris wrote: “Your son left teeth marks on my dick.”