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The Land and Its People
In The Land and Its People, his first collection since Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris reflects on what it means to be a foreigner, a brother, a lifelong friend. He tries on the role of caretaker after his boyfriend Hugh’s hip-replacement surgery, and both succeeds and fails. He buys his sister a cape and discusses his brother with a jaded Duolingo bot. He walks dozens of miles with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. Ever adding to his list of “Countries I Have Been To,” he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest’s cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo.
There is sadness here—scrolling through his address book, he realizes how many dear friends are now deceased—but also delight: he revels in author’s biographies, the malapropism that becomes a decades-long inside joke, and pair of well-made cotton underpants. He is bitten by a dog. A train passenger vomits in his face. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn’t. Look how hard it is to be alive!
Throughout these essays—at once acerbic and tender, playful and profound—Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity this fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.
There is sadness here—scrolling through his address book, he realizes how many dear friends are now deceased—but also delight: he revels in author’s biographies, the malapropism that becomes a decades-long inside joke, and pair of well-made cotton underpants. He is bitten by a dog. A train passenger vomits in his face. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn’t. Look how hard it is to be alive!
Throughout these essays—at once acerbic and tender, playful and profound—Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity this fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.
272 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2026
About the author
David Sedaris
123 books29.2k followersDavid Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries". He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,228 reviews
March 25, 2026
I think David Sedaris is one of the best modern comedy writers. I also think this book kind of missed the mark.
To anyone who has read his stuff before, the format is much the same. A collection of easy-to-read essays reflecting on his, usually absurd, interactions and observations of daily life. He talks about marriage, living in NYC, traveling, meeting strangers, and public transportation.
I was pretty obsessed with his books when I was in college because they were smart, self-deprecating, digestible, and occasionally heartfelt. I credit the audiobooks of “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and “Let’s Talk Diabetes with Owls” with surviving an awful stint in a Limnology Lab.
That being said, this was his first book to disappoint me. The writing was strong, the length and pacing of each essay perfect, and his wit was sharp as always (I laughed out loud several times). Maybe I’m just older now (or maybe he is?) but it just felt so…bitter. He’s always been a critic, but there was no reconciliation in this, no balance. And all of the digs at trans/non-binary people were grating. It’s giving “mean gays”, but not sarcastically. What happened to not taking swings at people with less power than you, David?
I still like David Sedaris and think fans of his earlier stuff will find something here to enjoy, but I wouldn’t recommend this to a first-timer.
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
To anyone who has read his stuff before, the format is much the same. A collection of easy-to-read essays reflecting on his, usually absurd, interactions and observations of daily life. He talks about marriage, living in NYC, traveling, meeting strangers, and public transportation.
I was pretty obsessed with his books when I was in college because they were smart, self-deprecating, digestible, and occasionally heartfelt. I credit the audiobooks of “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and “Let’s Talk Diabetes with Owls” with surviving an awful stint in a Limnology Lab.
That being said, this was his first book to disappoint me. The writing was strong, the length and pacing of each essay perfect, and his wit was sharp as always (I laughed out loud several times). Maybe I’m just older now (or maybe he is?) but it just felt so…bitter. He’s always been a critic, but there was no reconciliation in this, no balance. And all of the digs at trans/non-binary people were grating. It’s giving “mean gays”, but not sarcastically. What happened to not taking swings at people with less power than you, David?
I still like David Sedaris and think fans of his earlier stuff will find something here to enjoy, but I wouldn’t recommend this to a first-timer.
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 4, 2026
Am I the first person to review the new Sedaris on Goodreads wtf!!!! David is less angry at his dad in this one and I’m happy for him. I just simply love him, even if he’s completely unrelatable to me on an income level now he still Talks To Me you know
June 21, 2026
When I'm visiting somewhere new I like to do two things: get a good local meal and go to a local bookshop.
Last week I was in North Dakota for a few days. I was due to be either sleeping or working almost every hour of the trip, but I was determined to squeeze in at least a little time to look around on my own. It was difficult. One of the reasons it was difficult is that the people there were so unbelievably nice and friendly that every encounter lasted about an hour and a half. A quick dash to the grocery store to ask if they had some toothpaste turned into an epic heart-to-heart which began with the woman behind the counter saying ‘Do I detect an accent!’ and ended with us bent over a family tree while she talked me through her aunt's honeymoon in Cambridge.
I asked the receptionist at my hotel if there was a good bookshop in the area. ‘Oh ya, you're a reader? I love to read,’ she said, producing two novels from behind the desk as evidence, and launching into a disquisition on their plot and narrative development. Once we'd really got to the bottom of the third-act twist in both of them, she mentioned a place a few blocks away. I leapt into an Uber and beelined it. It was a good shop, and I was on the point of buying something when I suddenly realised that posters on the wall were all about Minnesota.
Fargo lying as it does on the state line, it struck me that when I crossed the river I'd accidentally drifted into Moorhead, MN. That's no good! The whole point is that I need a North Dakota bookshop! So I abandoned that place; but by then I had to meet colleagues and pretend to do something productive.
It was the same story when it came to food. After a long day filming in the Dakota plains – which, contrary to my expectations, turned out to be a Tellytubbyland of rolling green fields, full of deer and rabbits and little ground squirrels that the locals insisted on referring to as gophers; at one point I almost landed my drone on a passing turtle – we attempted to find somewhere for dinner, and eventually, heading for a water-tower on the horizon, we found a little settlement with a kind of roadhouse on a lake.
It was perfect. Music coming from a jukebox, and a strange mezzanine overlooking the bar onto which they had somehow manoeuvred an old Trans-Am (or something like that – one of those cars that you might see crashing into a barn in The Dukes of Hazzard). We studied the menu. As a vegetarian, I unfortunately had to rule out all the burgers, buffalo wings, burritos, fajitas, charcuterie boards and chicken-based salads, but I decided to just order a selection of appetisers instead. I went for the fried pickles, fried cauliflower, and whatever ‘lodge fries’ were. You name it, they were frying it at this place.
‘What beer would you recommend?’ I asked.
‘I'm twenty,’ said our server, which I thought was a rather cryptic response until I realised she was saying she couldn't drink any of it yet.
‘Anything local?’
‘Uh…we have a Labatt Blue.’
‘Aren't they Canadian?’
‘Canada's not far off!’ she pointed out brightly.
The assortment of fried goods and northern beer was delicious, and I felt contented that I'd at least fulfilled one part of my mandate. ‘The lodge fries were especially good,’ I said as I was paying.
‘We like to say they're the best fries in South Dakota,’ my waitress said as she handed me the receipt.
My eye twitched. ‘In where?’
‘South Dakota.’
Goddamn it, I'd done it again! We had strayed less than a quarter of a mile out of the state, and I had completely wasted a delicious if artery-thickening American dinner. ‘How is North Dakota?’ Hannah asked me on the phone as I drove back to Fargo. ‘I have no idea!’ I shouted back.
My journey home, thanks to the vagaries of United Airlines's routing plan, had me changing planes in a bewildering variety of different cities before I could finally board a transatlantic flight. Running from gate to gate in O'Hare, or Dulles, or one of those places, I grabbed a bag of Hot & Spicy Chex Mix and (desperate by now for a new book) a copy of David Sedaris's The Land and its People from a generic Hudson News.
Perhaps drinking endless bloody marys at altitude had something to do with it, but I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh this much. I was furious. This had nothing to do with North Dakota! I hadn't even bought it there. But I'd gobbled the whole thing down by the time I landed in Zurich, underlined a neat phrase on every other page, and generally felt it was the most fun I'd had with a book in months.
To add insult to injury, the Chex Mix was fucking delicious as well.
Last week I was in North Dakota for a few days. I was due to be either sleeping or working almost every hour of the trip, but I was determined to squeeze in at least a little time to look around on my own. It was difficult. One of the reasons it was difficult is that the people there were so unbelievably nice and friendly that every encounter lasted about an hour and a half. A quick dash to the grocery store to ask if they had some toothpaste turned into an epic heart-to-heart which began with the woman behind the counter saying ‘Do I detect an accent!’ and ended with us bent over a family tree while she talked me through her aunt's honeymoon in Cambridge.
I asked the receptionist at my hotel if there was a good bookshop in the area. ‘Oh ya, you're a reader? I love to read,’ she said, producing two novels from behind the desk as evidence, and launching into a disquisition on their plot and narrative development. Once we'd really got to the bottom of the third-act twist in both of them, she mentioned a place a few blocks away. I leapt into an Uber and beelined it. It was a good shop, and I was on the point of buying something when I suddenly realised that posters on the wall were all about Minnesota.
Fargo lying as it does on the state line, it struck me that when I crossed the river I'd accidentally drifted into Moorhead, MN. That's no good! The whole point is that I need a North Dakota bookshop! So I abandoned that place; but by then I had to meet colleagues and pretend to do something productive.
It was the same story when it came to food. After a long day filming in the Dakota plains – which, contrary to my expectations, turned out to be a Tellytubbyland of rolling green fields, full of deer and rabbits and little ground squirrels that the locals insisted on referring to as gophers; at one point I almost landed my drone on a passing turtle – we attempted to find somewhere for dinner, and eventually, heading for a water-tower on the horizon, we found a little settlement with a kind of roadhouse on a lake.
It was perfect. Music coming from a jukebox, and a strange mezzanine overlooking the bar onto which they had somehow manoeuvred an old Trans-Am (or something like that – one of those cars that you might see crashing into a barn in The Dukes of Hazzard). We studied the menu. As a vegetarian, I unfortunately had to rule out all the burgers, buffalo wings, burritos, fajitas, charcuterie boards and chicken-based salads, but I decided to just order a selection of appetisers instead. I went for the fried pickles, fried cauliflower, and whatever ‘lodge fries’ were. You name it, they were frying it at this place.
‘What beer would you recommend?’ I asked.
‘I'm twenty,’ said our server, which I thought was a rather cryptic response until I realised she was saying she couldn't drink any of it yet.
‘Anything local?’
‘Uh…we have a Labatt Blue.’
‘Aren't they Canadian?’
‘Canada's not far off!’ she pointed out brightly.
The assortment of fried goods and northern beer was delicious, and I felt contented that I'd at least fulfilled one part of my mandate. ‘The lodge fries were especially good,’ I said as I was paying.
‘We like to say they're the best fries in South Dakota,’ my waitress said as she handed me the receipt.
My eye twitched. ‘In where?’
‘South Dakota.’
Goddamn it, I'd done it again! We had strayed less than a quarter of a mile out of the state, and I had completely wasted a delicious if artery-thickening American dinner. ‘How is North Dakota?’ Hannah asked me on the phone as I drove back to Fargo. ‘I have no idea!’ I shouted back.
My journey home, thanks to the vagaries of United Airlines's routing plan, had me changing planes in a bewildering variety of different cities before I could finally board a transatlantic flight. Running from gate to gate in O'Hare, or Dulles, or one of those places, I grabbed a bag of Hot & Spicy Chex Mix and (desperate by now for a new book) a copy of David Sedaris's The Land and its People from a generic Hudson News.
Perhaps drinking endless bloody marys at altitude had something to do with it, but I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh this much. I was furious. This had nothing to do with North Dakota! I hadn't even bought it there. But I'd gobbled the whole thing down by the time I landed in Zurich, underlined a neat phrase on every other page, and generally felt it was the most fun I'd had with a book in months.
To add insult to injury, the Chex Mix was fucking delicious as well.
March 11, 2026
Admittedly my review of Sedaris’ previous book was harsh. I try to write reviews just after I finish a book, and my emotions are high and my thoughts haven’t had time to mellow. I probably could have put a sweeter spin on what I didn’t like in the collection, but it is how I felt in the moment.
Thankfully, this new collection gets all of my praise….almost! The cover price is worth the number of times I laughed out loud, like cathartic, deep, laughing. Much needed laughing. Sedaris isn’t holding back, he’s unbelievably irreverent and not at all PC here, it was shocking, and, at least to me, hilarious.
There are times he falls into Andy Rooney territory. “Get off my lawn!” style curmudgeoness. And one of my disagreements from the last book comes up again here, there’s lots of talk about the fancy possessions being acquired. Thankfully, the luxe mentions are used better here. A tale about a very pricey cashmere cape is a stunner, funny, sarcastic, and heartfelt in that special Sedaris way.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early peek.
Thankfully, this new collection gets all of my praise….almost! The cover price is worth the number of times I laughed out loud, like cathartic, deep, laughing. Much needed laughing. Sedaris isn’t holding back, he’s unbelievably irreverent and not at all PC here, it was shocking, and, at least to me, hilarious.
There are times he falls into Andy Rooney territory. “Get off my lawn!” style curmudgeoness. And one of my disagreements from the last book comes up again here, there’s lots of talk about the fancy possessions being acquired. Thankfully, the luxe mentions are used better here. A tale about a very pricey cashmere cape is a stunner, funny, sarcastic, and heartfelt in that special Sedaris way.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early peek.
July 1, 2026
Just as funny, crude and irreverent as ever. But still he tells the truth. My favorite line:
"I'm in the hard part of getting old---the part where everything irritates you. The easy part comes a little later, when my short-term memory disappears."
I hope he's still publishing books when that happens.
"I'm in the hard part of getting old---the part where everything irritates you. The easy part comes a little later, when my short-term memory disappears."
I hope he's still publishing books when that happens.
May 28, 2026
Well… someone is back to his old form.
The Land and Its People had me laughing out loud with enough frequency to frighten neighborhood dogs, alarm passing pedestrians, and probably raise concerns about my mental stability during my daily walks.
I listened to the audiobook, recorded live at various venues, and that format is absolutely perfect for David Sedaris. I’ve seen him live many times — including just a few weeks ago — and this book captures what makes him such a singular performer and writer.
The last couple of Sedaris outings, at least for me, felt a little… mailed in.
This one is not.
The show I saw recently was sharp, energized, and wonderfully funny. This book is too.
The observational humor here is classic Sedaris. Stories like “Cool Moms” and the unforgettable dog-bite episode in Portland showcase his uncanny ability to transform ordinary life into comic gold. That’s really his superpower: taking the small, awkward, everyday moments most of us overlook and turning them into something hilarious, revealing, and strangely profound.
In fact, Sedaris has inspired me to start carrying a small notebook around to capture snippets of everyday life — because that’s the magic trick on display here. This book is, in many ways, simply David Sedaris paying close attention.
And what brilliant attention it is.
What has always separated Sedaris from lesser humorists is his ability to pivot on a dime from laugh-out-loud comedy to bittersweet humanity. One moment you’re cackling; the next you’re unexpectedly touched.
I’m glad he’s back in this form.
Funny, observant, vulnerable, weird, and wonderfully human — The Land and Its People is David Sedaris doing what he does best. 5 Stars- Audiobook
You have made it this far- find out more about the greatest literary Sunday ever!
https://open.substack.com/pub/lposse1...
The Land and Its People had me laughing out loud with enough frequency to frighten neighborhood dogs, alarm passing pedestrians, and probably raise concerns about my mental stability during my daily walks.
I listened to the audiobook, recorded live at various venues, and that format is absolutely perfect for David Sedaris. I’ve seen him live many times — including just a few weeks ago — and this book captures what makes him such a singular performer and writer.
The last couple of Sedaris outings, at least for me, felt a little… mailed in.
This one is not.
The show I saw recently was sharp, energized, and wonderfully funny. This book is too.
The observational humor here is classic Sedaris. Stories like “Cool Moms” and the unforgettable dog-bite episode in Portland showcase his uncanny ability to transform ordinary life into comic gold. That’s really his superpower: taking the small, awkward, everyday moments most of us overlook and turning them into something hilarious, revealing, and strangely profound.
In fact, Sedaris has inspired me to start carrying a small notebook around to capture snippets of everyday life — because that’s the magic trick on display here. This book is, in many ways, simply David Sedaris paying close attention.
And what brilliant attention it is.
What has always separated Sedaris from lesser humorists is his ability to pivot on a dime from laugh-out-loud comedy to bittersweet humanity. One moment you’re cackling; the next you’re unexpectedly touched.
I’m glad he’s back in this form.
Funny, observant, vulnerable, weird, and wonderfully human — The Land and Its People is David Sedaris doing what he does best. 5 Stars- Audiobook
You have made it this far- find out more about the greatest literary Sunday ever!
https://open.substack.com/pub/lposse1...
June 30, 2026
David Sedaris is aging like cheese. He’s become sharper, bolder, more distinctive — not agreeable to all pallets, but absolutely brilliant for the gourmand. He is a misanthrope with a heart of gold, America’s funniest grumpy old man.
With The Land and Its People Sedaris gives us pieces that explore both his perspective as an older man (being caregiver for his partner Hugh when he had his hip replaced) and a retrospective looking back over a long life. The retrospective includes pieces on a pre Hugh boyfriend (a gorgeous perfect ten who’s infidelities broke his heart and left him feeling inadequate) his autistic-like, life-long friend Dawn (originally a “girlfriend” before David came out) and pondering on a childhood friendship and what it meant to him after hearing that the old friend had died. There are, of course, pieces touching on both his deceased parents, his father (still a painfully tragic/comic villain) and his mother (imperfect, quirky, but practically worshipped by Sedaris).
The absolute gems of this collection of essays include Sedaris visiting the Vatican with a group of famous funny people for an audience with the pope. When pondering just how out of place he felt in this situation he writes:
I look at the photos of the assembled guests and wonder, what was I doing there? It was like a reproduction of the Last Supper with one of the disciples replaced by Snoopy.
Another highlight is a “get off my lawn” piece ranting about kids these days. Sedaris compares today’s kids to his childhood:
Children now are like animals who have no natural predators left. Had I arrived at my elementary school with a bleeding head wound, explaining that my father had just thrown me out of his moving car because I was teasing my sister, the teacher would have handed me a bandaid saying, “Well I hope you learned a lesson!”
And the line that made me laugh hardest occurred when David explains why he identifies as gay rather than queer:
The difference is that queer people are offended by just about everything. They have the rest of us walking on potato chips, afraid we’re using the wrong pronoun or saying mother fucker instead of mothering person fucker.
The Land and Its People is absolute peak Sedaris, an outstanding collection with all hits and no misses.
With The Land and Its People Sedaris gives us pieces that explore both his perspective as an older man (being caregiver for his partner Hugh when he had his hip replaced) and a retrospective looking back over a long life. The retrospective includes pieces on a pre Hugh boyfriend (a gorgeous perfect ten who’s infidelities broke his heart and left him feeling inadequate) his autistic-like, life-long friend Dawn (originally a “girlfriend” before David came out) and pondering on a childhood friendship and what it meant to him after hearing that the old friend had died. There are, of course, pieces touching on both his deceased parents, his father (still a painfully tragic/comic villain) and his mother (imperfect, quirky, but practically worshipped by Sedaris).
The absolute gems of this collection of essays include Sedaris visiting the Vatican with a group of famous funny people for an audience with the pope. When pondering just how out of place he felt in this situation he writes:
I look at the photos of the assembled guests and wonder, what was I doing there? It was like a reproduction of the Last Supper with one of the disciples replaced by Snoopy.
Another highlight is a “get off my lawn” piece ranting about kids these days. Sedaris compares today’s kids to his childhood:
Children now are like animals who have no natural predators left. Had I arrived at my elementary school with a bleeding head wound, explaining that my father had just thrown me out of his moving car because I was teasing my sister, the teacher would have handed me a bandaid saying, “Well I hope you learned a lesson!”
And the line that made me laugh hardest occurred when David explains why he identifies as gay rather than queer:
The difference is that queer people are offended by just about everything. They have the rest of us walking on potato chips, afraid we’re using the wrong pronoun or saying mother fucker instead of mothering person fucker.
The Land and Its People is absolute peak Sedaris, an outstanding collection with all hits and no misses.
May 28, 2026
This collection felt a tad more uneven to me than most of Sedaris’ previous works, but there was still plenty to enjoy: I giggled out loud quite a bit as I listened to the audio (narrated by Sedaris himself). As he ages and friends and family die and experience serious health issues, Sedaris seems to be turning his thoughts more and more to mortality, and several of the essays are deeply considered appreciations of people in his life, past and present.
June 7, 2026
First a piece of advice: Listen to this latest David Sedaris on audio. Hearing him read his own words with the pauses and inflections he intends, is part of the joy.
Next, a warning: Do not listen to this audio book while driving. I was laughing so hard I almost veered into another lane of traffic (which I think the non-driving Sedaris might appreciate).
This essay collection is the funniest thing I’ve read in years, as Sedaris always is. Self-defined essayist, I’d also call him a stand-up comic and a memoirist. What he does so brilliantly is to balance acerbic, caustic wit with tender-hearted sentiment. Just when you think he might be a complete bitch, he just breaks your heart with his perceptive sensitivity.
I will miss his voice and his writing.
Next, a warning: Do not listen to this audio book while driving. I was laughing so hard I almost veered into another lane of traffic (which I think the non-driving Sedaris might appreciate).
This essay collection is the funniest thing I’ve read in years, as Sedaris always is. Self-defined essayist, I’d also call him a stand-up comic and a memoirist. What he does so brilliantly is to balance acerbic, caustic wit with tender-hearted sentiment. Just when you think he might be a complete bitch, he just breaks your heart with his perceptive sensitivity.
I will miss his voice and his writing.
May 29, 2026
This audio book is unusual in that it is transcribed from various visits around the country, some very recent. In his own voice, he continues his ongoing version of his life and that of his family so that previous excursions into his life are brought to memory without effort. I was going to only listen to a few, but found myself devouring the whole thing in one swoop.
May 30, 2026
Like catching up with your cool uncle. He’s charming and fun to talk to so you don’t really mind that he’s a boomer.
June 14, 2026
Nothing about this was insightful or interesting — it never even registered that any of it was meant to be funny. His whole gig is talking down on people and judging anyone he considers beneath him, and somehow the audience is supposed to find that humorous? He is entitled, self-absorbed, someone who seems to hate his life, hate his husband, and resent anything that can’t immediately be made about himself. And on top of all that — it’s not even written well.
June 7, 2026
3.5 stars
June 4, 2026
Decent collection overall. Some stories, like the one about his childhood best friend, and about his mom, were poignant and funny in that trademark Sedaris way. But others show his out-of-touch-rich-old-man side a little too prominently lol.
June 11, 2026
This was a delight. It’s more of Sedaris writing about the things I love him to write about: his relationship with his husband Hugh, his terrible dad, his sisters and brothers—especially Amy Sedaris, of whom I might be more of a fan than David himself—and his best friend Dawn.
I number Sedaris among the writers who are always there when I need them—an easy choice, a guaranteed good time—whenever I need a book to perk me up.
I number Sedaris among the writers who are always there when I need them—an easy choice, a guaranteed good time—whenever I need a book to perk me up.
May 27, 2026
This is peak David Sedaris. Highly recommend the audiobook, which Sedaris reads to a live audience. It makes the essays even funnier and more personal. His timing, delivery, and the audience reactions add so much to the experience.
April 13, 2026
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading some of these other reviews.. David Sedaris has always been this self absorbed LOL that’s why I love him! Maybe because there are fewer stories about his childhood it’s a harder pill to swallow? It wasn’t my favorite but it definitely had me chuckling. I love how much care goes into the final sentence of a lot of these essays.
Once Sedaris mentioned being on Duolingo I was on the edge of my seat waiting for him to share his thoughts on Lily (the purple haired character & my personal Duolingo nemesis). He did not disappoint!
Once Sedaris mentioned being on Duolingo I was on the edge of my seat waiting for him to share his thoughts on Lily (the purple haired character & my personal Duolingo nemesis). He did not disappoint!
June 8, 2026
There’s a lot to love in here. But I can’t get past the fact that he says the most important rule of comedy is to not punch down…and then immediately punches down. And keeps punching down. And plunges deeper into the abyss of privileged boomerism. Not what anyone needed in this 2026 hellscape.
June 6, 2026
2.5 stars. It’s David Sedaris, so some of these essays are funny and reasonably well-constructed. But this collection is hit or miss. There is a chasm between the good essays and the rest. This particular collection starts off whiny and self-indulgent, but there are a few pieces later in the collection that are Sedaris at his best. Overall disappointing with some great moments.
March 17, 2026
Mostly new essays. Still funny but a tad less irreverent.
Worth a read or better yet, a listen.
Thanks Edelweiss and Little, Brown and Company.
Worth a read or better yet, a listen.
Thanks Edelweiss and Little, Brown and Company.
June 28, 2026
The Land and Its People
is David Sedaris’s newest essay collection, published just last month, and the second collection of his that I’ve read so far this year. Even though I have a print version of the book, I decided to go with the audio version again, as I saw that all the essays were recordings of live performances, which enhanced the reading (listening) experience for me last time, so I figured it would do the same this time around as well (and fortunately, I was right).
In this collection of essays, Sedaris employs his trademark wry, self-deprecating humor to reflect upon the various roles that we take up in this world and our numerous human relationships as well as interactions – essentially, he explores what it means to be a human being in this land that we inhabit. As is his style, most of the essays reflect his irreverent sense of humor, with subjects ranging from the intimate – such as Sedaris’s relationship with his husband Hugh as well as his interactions with his siblings and various members of his family – to the strange and absurd, such as when he challenges his friend to eat a truck tire. And yes, some essays may feel more grating than others, especially the ones where he pokes fun at certain groups of people or pushes the envelope with some sensitive subjects – but my philosophy is usually to take this stuff in stride knowing that it is part of the humorist/comedian’s “act” -- as long as it doesn’t cross any lines, of course.
As a whole, I found this collection of essays quite enjoyable and many of them funnier than I expected, though there were a few where the joke was on me for not “getting” the punchline. A few of the essays also sounded familiar, so likely I had read them from other publications, since Sedaris’s work is widely published. Overall, this was a nice palette cleanser from the heavier stuff that I’ve been reading and helped me to unwind given the particularly stressful week I’ve had at work. As I noted in a previous review, I am slowly making my way through Sedaris’s backlist and continue to insert some much-needed levity into my life wherever I can find it.
In this collection of essays, Sedaris employs his trademark wry, self-deprecating humor to reflect upon the various roles that we take up in this world and our numerous human relationships as well as interactions – essentially, he explores what it means to be a human being in this land that we inhabit. As is his style, most of the essays reflect his irreverent sense of humor, with subjects ranging from the intimate – such as Sedaris’s relationship with his husband Hugh as well as his interactions with his siblings and various members of his family – to the strange and absurd, such as when he challenges his friend to eat a truck tire. And yes, some essays may feel more grating than others, especially the ones where he pokes fun at certain groups of people or pushes the envelope with some sensitive subjects – but my philosophy is usually to take this stuff in stride knowing that it is part of the humorist/comedian’s “act” -- as long as it doesn’t cross any lines, of course.
As a whole, I found this collection of essays quite enjoyable and many of them funnier than I expected, though there were a few where the joke was on me for not “getting” the punchline. A few of the essays also sounded familiar, so likely I had read them from other publications, since Sedaris’s work is widely published. Overall, this was a nice palette cleanser from the heavier stuff that I’ve been reading and helped me to unwind given the particularly stressful week I’ve had at work. As I noted in a previous review, I am slowly making my way through Sedaris’s backlist and continue to insert some much-needed levity into my life wherever I can find it.
June 10, 2026
Didžiulis pliusas – pačių autorių įgarsintos humoristinės audioknygos. Popierinio varianto tikrai nebūčiau ištempus. O toks „paletės išvalymas“ tarp rimtesnių knygų – pats tas.
July 3, 2026
god hes just the funniest man in the world
June 3, 2026
Here is how I feel about David Sedaris, he is getting better and better with age. I still find his essays laugh out loud funny, but they are also so poignant, too. He's such an incredible observer - of people, situations, funny moments, but mostly about himself. He sometimes describes how he feels about something and I think, 'Wow, I'm not the only one who thinks that way!' It's very comforting. Also, there's nothing like seeing him live - so if he visits a place near you, go see him! This was a great read.
June 25, 2026
The Land and It’s People is an essay collection by humorist David Sedaris. It explores what it means to be a foreigner, a lifelong friend, and a family member through his cringey, but tender, observations on aging, caregiving, and everyday human absurdities.
I think this might be his funniest collection of essays yet. The audio version is wonderful and laugh out loud funny.
I think this might be his funniest collection of essays yet. The audio version is wonderful and laugh out loud funny.
May 31, 2026
This really felt like the author back to his finest. I didn’t love his last few things but this collection felt more like his older essay collections that I loved (ie Calypso, Me Talk Pretty etc). There were still a variety of stories but a lot more focused around getting older and navigating that. It had the humor you come to expect and I even chuckled out loud a few times while reading on the train. Excellent.
June 1, 2026
It sounded like a really nice cape
April 29, 2026
More of the same from Sedaris. I’m just not buying what he’s selling anymore.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It is not secret that David Sedaris is a master of the essay form, and his latest collection underscores that. Whether eulogizing a childhood friend or lamenting the moroseness of his godson, Sedaris is relatable and funny, and, for those of us who have long enjoyed his work, reading each new collection is like catching up with an old, albeit often crotchety, friend.
June 28, 2026
"So if you want something that's already embarrassing to buy, you have to track down a high school dropout playing a game on his phone and ask him to unlock the case it's in." Page 37.
What a shame David Sedaris grew into a rich, snobby, tone-deaf asshole. The man has not had to live in the United States for decades nor has he had to have an actual job for longer. Remember how it started? with the Santaland Diaries, where he was so broke and directionless he worked as a Macy's Christmas elf, and found the humanity and humor of it and wrote about it? Now he's a bitchy asshole who talks down to people. None of this is funny anymore. Reading about Hugh's new hip in his spotless, private Memorial Sloan Kettering room where several attendants and doctors get to him right away, and his out of pocket health insurance covering "the brunt of the cost" is nearly insulting. He lost his touch and his craft long ago. Calypso is the last interesting thing he wrote, and that was nearly a decade ago.
The above quote^^ is where I stopped flipping through these retreaded "essays" from The New Yorker. The last one in this book was published online in February of this year and it's about how good about himself he feels for helping a woman carry a free piece of furniture down York for too many blocks. And how he won't give some homeless guy money. It contains the actual line "It irritates me when, by “the homeless,” people mean themselves." Yikes. The woman he helps: he doesn't identify her by her name but, eventually, as "The Puerto Rican woman." She asks him for his name but he noticeably does not ask for hers, or that's a detail he didn't feel the need to include. He remembers when he paid $350 a month for a West Village apt in 1990 and had to dig the paper out of the trash to read the want ads. Now he has two UES apartments he bought specifically to put his art collection in, one a penthouse. I know about this bc the NYT did a profile of **his apartment**.
It makes reading about the trivialities of his second and third homes and apartments in different vacation spots, or his train trips across the UK or France, all the more out of touch. None of this is funny anymore. He's just a rich crank.
What a shame David Sedaris grew into a rich, snobby, tone-deaf asshole. The man has not had to live in the United States for decades nor has he had to have an actual job for longer. Remember how it started? with the Santaland Diaries, where he was so broke and directionless he worked as a Macy's Christmas elf, and found the humanity and humor of it and wrote about it? Now he's a bitchy asshole who talks down to people. None of this is funny anymore. Reading about Hugh's new hip in his spotless, private Memorial Sloan Kettering room where several attendants and doctors get to him right away, and his out of pocket health insurance covering "the brunt of the cost" is nearly insulting. He lost his touch and his craft long ago. Calypso is the last interesting thing he wrote, and that was nearly a decade ago.
The above quote^^ is where I stopped flipping through these retreaded "essays" from The New Yorker. The last one in this book was published online in February of this year and it's about how good about himself he feels for helping a woman carry a free piece of furniture down York for too many blocks. And how he won't give some homeless guy money. It contains the actual line "It irritates me when, by “the homeless,” people mean themselves." Yikes. The woman he helps: he doesn't identify her by her name but, eventually, as "The Puerto Rican woman." She asks him for his name but he noticeably does not ask for hers, or that's a detail he didn't feel the need to include. He remembers when he paid $350 a month for a West Village apt in 1990 and had to dig the paper out of the trash to read the want ads. Now he has two UES apartments he bought specifically to put his art collection in, one a penthouse. I know about this bc the NYT did a profile of **his apartment**.
It makes reading about the trivialities of his second and third homes and apartments in different vacation spots, or his train trips across the UK or France, all the more out of touch. None of this is funny anymore. He's just a rich crank.
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