Much of Naked centers on David Sedaris’s childhood and his relationship with his family. The Sedaris family is portrayed as large and eccentric. The myriad relationships among parents, children, and grandparents are portrayed as both antagonistic and supportive; the Sedarises are loving and supportive at times, but they can also be genuinely dysfunctional—and even abusive. 

Sedaris notes that both of his parents had traumatic youths. In “Get Your Ya-Yas Out!” he notes that his father grew up in extreme poverty, a discomfort compounded by Ya Ya’s abnormal “spooky love,” which is implied to be emotionally abusive. Sharon is the daughter of a severe alcoholic who was committed to a psychiatric hospital when she was 16. While in the hospital, he was subjected to extensive shock treatments and experienced psychosis. This experience left him so profoundly disabled that he was unable to recognize Sharon when she visited. In that condition, “Once, thinking she was a nurse, he attempted to slip his hand beneath her skirt” (61). Sharon and Lou’s experiences lead to lifelong emotional dysfunction that affects their parenting.

Sedaris’s portrayal of his father is relatively straightforward and uncomplicated: Louis is emotionally distant, irresponsible, and occasionally abusive. His portrayal of Sharon is more complex.