Trying to line up an interview with satirist and National Public Radio star David Sedaris—who’s coming to Hill Auditorium on Saturday, April 12 at 2 p.m.—is like experiencing a small-scale version of “Roger and Me”: access is, well, kind of impossible. (Hence the interview-free preview I wrote when Sedaris visited Ann Arbor in 2010.)

Understandable, perhaps, since Sedaris normally does lecture tours twice a year, and he’s currently on a 50-plus-city tour to promote the release of his newest book, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” on April 23. But it’s also telling that before “Owls” was even available, its pre-sales ranked the book in the top 10 on Amazon in three categories (travel writing, satire, and essays).

So Sedaris, in a way, needs no introduction.

“Owls,” according to its description, offers readers a kind of world tour through Sedaris’ eyes: “From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, from the squat-style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveler's experiences. Whether railing against the habits of litterers in the English countryside or marveling over a disembodied human arm in a taxidermist's shop, Sedaris takes us on side-splitting adventures that are not to be forgotten.”

Sedaris first rose to fame after his NPR radio essay “Santaland Diaries” made a big splash in 1992. Beloved essay collections like “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” and “When You Are Engulfed in Flames”—with work drawn from Sedaris' featured columns in The New Yorker, GQ, etc.—followed and broadly expanded Sedaris' fan base, so that he’s now considered one of America’s premier humorists.

And although Sedaris has granted few interviews in the last couple of years, he took questions from Dutch students in Amsterdam in October 2012 for a television show (NTR's College Tour series). One student asked Sedaris if it bothered him that he’s known more for being a humorist than for being a gifted writer or intellectual.

“I would like to have it both ways, actually,” Sedaris responded. “I think when you write things that are funny, you never get the respect you long for as a child. So it helps to have things (published) in The New Yorker. … That helps you get that sort of respect that you long for when you’re writing about something that is completely banal, which is just generally what I write about. … And I used to not like the term ‘humorist,’ because it called to mind a middle-aged man with patches on his elbows. And now I’m a middle-aged man with patches on my elbows. … It’s a term I grew into.”

Another student, on the same show, asked if Sedaris sometimes did things because he thought it would be funny, and thus something he might write about.

“One time a magazine called and said, we want you to stow away on a ship and write about it,” he said during the show. “And A, I don’t want to spend time in a barrel … at sea. … But if I’d said yes, I’d be in that barrel, and I’d be thinking, ‘What’s funny about this?’ And plus, I’d have to write about it. And I want to write about things that I want to write about.”

Last year, Tavi Gevinson, the young fashion blogger who launched RookieMag.com—an online magazine for teenage girls—also got the rare opportunity to talk to Sedaris (who confessed he was a fan).

Gevinson asked Sedaris if he ever played up parts of his personality in order to get a better story.

“I was just thinking about this the other day,” Sedaris told Gevinson. “I never learned how to drive a car. And so I never really developed aggression skills. And so I’m not very good at saying no. I think that saying yes, or being afraid to say no, leads to a lot more stories than playing up a side of myself. Most people, something starts to happen and they’re able to say, 'No, I don’t want this to happen,' and, 'No, you’re going too far,' and, 'No, I don’t like the way you’re talking to me.' But I’m afraid to say that.”

Part of the fun of Sedaris’ essays, of course, is getting his dry take on the often-bizarre characters he encounters. In regard to being fair to them, Sedaris told Gevinson, “I always think that if you’re going to make fun of somebody, it helps to make more fun of yourself. I was reading something from my diary recently: I was in a hotel and I ran in (to the coffee shop) to get a quick coffee, but I hesitated for a moment and this woman got in line in front of me. And she looks up at the board and says, 'A latte. Now, is that the same thing that Barbara likes to get? The one with the whipped cream?' And I’m behind her thinking, ‘Oh, (expletive).’ That’s the last person you wanna be in line behind! And so I do kinda make fun of her, just because she’s one of those people that ask the guy at the counter, 'So, did you go to college? Where did you go? ’Cause my son went here, but he’s not working yet, but I tell him, "Rome wasn’t built in a day!" Are those lids different sizes? How do you keep them straight?' And I’ve got steam coming out of my ears. But, in the end, it’s just about what a complete jerk I can be.”

To hear even more from Sedaris, you can attend his talk at Hill on April 12, where he'll read from his work, answer questions, and sign books. Indeed, Sedaris is famous for taking his time while talking to fans at book signings.

Hmm. Maybe that’s how I can finally snag an interview …

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.