In response to Anne Gentry’s piece in the April 28 edition of The Alpena News on the importance and value of public libraries (with which we agree wholeheartedly, as did, e.g., the ancient Egyptians, see the Library at Alexandria), we focus on one sentence near the beginning of her column: “A packed crowd in the Stanley Beck auditorium at Alpena High School, filled with nearly 700 attendees enraptured by the words of author David Sedaris.”

Now, our housemate is a big David Sedaris fan. We find his writing clever and amusing, verging on hilarious. Based on what we’ve heard of him on the radio, he also is an excellent raconteur, which is a fading skill, alas, and one to be celebrated and cultivated. But to say that people were “enraptured” by his words seems a bit of a stretch. As clever and amusing as he is, and much as we enjoy listening to him tell stories, he’s not Homer or Dante or Goethe or James Joyce or … on and on. We doubt anyone at the AHS Auditorium was made euphoric (choosing a family-friendly word) by Mr. Sedaris’ presentation. Unless Ms. Gentry swooned.

CLYDE SHUMAN,

Ossineke