"The Land and Its People" | Reviewed by William Winkler

American author and humorist David Sedaris first came to public attention in 1992 when he read his essay Santaland Diaries on National Public Radio. He published his initial collection of essays and short stories, “Barrel Fever,” two years later.

Sedaris has published more than a dozen collections since that time, the most recent being “The Land and Its People.” Throughout his career Sedaris’s work has been characterized by his eyes-wide-open observations and characterizations of his living space, his family, and his own mortality. The current book includes all of these options and more with an emphasis on his age (Sedaris is 70) and those of his contemporaries.

The first entry, Care and Feeding, examines his experiences as a first-time caregiver after his partner and husband, Hugh, undergoes hip replacement surgery. The last sentence, part of which reads “an aluminum walker [now gathering cobwebs] in our building’s dark, uninviting basement,” reveals his feelings about the inevitable march of the aging process.

Sedaris is candid about his sexuality, dropping references throughout his writing, but only when such references bring clarity to an observation or insight into his life, present and past.

Those who have used the online language app Duolingo will be amused by the description of Sedaris’s interaction with the app’s sardonic, purple-haired teenaged avatar named Lily. After numerous conversations with Lily he learned to silence her by saying such things as, “Yesterday a doctor cut my tongue with a chain saw.”

In each of the 28 entries Sedaris recounts an incident in his life, then expands it with observations about the people with whom he interacted, usually humorous, always honest. The reader will find a host of things to laugh about, even in the chapter where the author remarks on how many of the people in his address book have died.

Readers who have enjoyed Sedaris’s previous writing will continue to find delight in this book. Those unfamiliar with his work will find in “The Land and Its People” an enjoyable and accessible introduction.

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