The best review for any book is when it makes you laugh out loud. This one delivers. Like David’s other audio books, The Land and Its People is a collection of recorded readings in front of live audiences.
The shared laughter is a bonus if not a balm. I was very grateful that this book’s release date was less than a week after the final episode of the Late Show, as it helped ease that loss.
One of the essays in this book published earlier in the New Yorker revealed that David and his longtime boyfriend Hugh Hamrick were secretly married in 2016. He didn’t even share this news with his family and revealed it was at his banker’s recommendation for financial reasons. Another essay features Hugh preparing for hip replacement surgery. With the upcoming Christmas holiday and David’s lack of culinary skills, how would Hugh be able to prepare his usual feast of two entrees and various side dishes to accommodate everyone’s dietary requirements? Could Hugh cook from a wheelchair if he couldn’t recover fast enough?
As a Sedaris fan I have added listening to David’s Santaland Diaries, broadcast every Christmas on NPR, to my holiday traditions. I’ve also been fortunate enough to see David read his essays in person a couple of times and the crowd is an inimitable community. The last time I saw him, my seat mate said I looked familiar. After a few unsuccessful guesses at our connection, she said, “just give me your phone” so we could become Facebook friends, and then it all became clear.
What I love most about David are his conversations with people, real or imagined. He sometimes mirrors my own thoughts and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not. David and Hugh’s rants and reactions to missed flights or a friend whose house rules don’t allow cell phone use on the first floor are hilarious. Our shared humanity is easier to laugh at when it happens to someone else. If you’d like to sample something by Sedaris, click here for several free essays and short stories. The world might need another Sedarian.
The Land and Its People: Essays by David Sedaris, 2026, Little, Brown & Company
