What Was the Purpose of Writing the Essay in Sedariss Book?

What Was the Purpose of Writing the Essay in Sedaris's Book?The Book That Changed My Life by David Sedaris is a much needed discussion on what is the purpose of writing the essay? This book is filled with solid content of a strong writer's ability to turn thoughts into essays. I admit to being disturbed by some of the parts. One example being a review of Charles Manion's novels that states 'a confession goes a long way' I'd like to know what Sedaris means by that statement.In the light of an author confessing to his masturbation, does that reflect the author's intention? After all, he was not being sincere. Perhaps, the author means that a confession goes a long way in getting another to deal with whatever it is that the author is dealing with.In this book, I learned that the essay is a conversational piece. In order to achieve that conversational spirit, an author must use wordplay and theme-songs. It does not matter what the theme or song is that the author is using. He needs to ha ve a heart and soul in the matter that he is writing.It helps to understand what the common ground is between the author and the reader. If the author has a common ground, he or she can gain a rapport. Is the author manipulating the audience, or is the audience manipulated by the author?The author may be used to manipulating the audience, but that was very different when he first started writing. Then, he was gaining a little courage to write about a subject and making mistakes. This book is written from the point of view of a writer, so the authors words are clearly going to be different from the first article in the series. This isnot what I was expecting.Also, I do not know what Sedaris meant when he stated 'how one achieves change.' The purpose of writing the essay was to set the stage for discussion. I am not certain if he is trying to say that one has to write first in order to achieve change, or, that there are only a few things that can cause change. Regardless, I do not agr ee that such an essay changes a person.Readers are sometimes comfortable with simple discussions of topics. I am more comfortable with a topic that will include science and philosophy. A discussion of these topics can really aid an article, but they require that the writer write first. The author has control of his piece.