The Land and its People

'Sedaris is the God of the comic essay... Sedaris' only rule: be funny or perish'
LENA DUNHAM

In The Land and Its People, David Sedaris investigates what it means to be a traveller, a brother, a lifelong friend. Trying on the role of carer after his boyfriend Hugh's hip-replacement surgery, he both succeeds and fails. He covers ground with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. An ambivalent Duolingo bot becomes his unlikely confidante as he attempts to describe his family in a foreign language. 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.

Time takes its toll: Scrolling through his address book, he counts those he couldn't bear to outline and realizes how many are already gone. He is bitten by a dog and insulted by a wee train passenger. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn't. It's easy to agree with the lady waving a sign that reads, 'Enough is Enough.' And yet, life holds much to delight in: the massive testicles of a ram, a trip abroad with his sisters, a really excellent reptile video, a pair of well-made cotton underpants.

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 our fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.

PRAISE FOR THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE . . .

'Sedaris takes on the indignities and freedoms of aging - from competitive infirmity to care taking to underpants - with his characteristic élan. You'll find familiar faces and Sedaris's trademark off-kilter humor, as well as a poignant tenderness' New York Times Book Review

'A funny and heartfelt essay collection on friendship, family, and aging ... Sedaris's wit and keen awareness of life's absurdities are on full display. These essays are among the best of his career' Publishers Weekly

'It's classic Sedaris: sharp, shameless, and strangely tender' Oprah Daily

'A welcome return to form for the much-awarded and much-loved humorist ... Sedaris remains a national treasure' Kirkus

'A new David Sedaris collection is a publishing event' Literary Hub

'Hugely entertaining, perfectly designed to consume in bite-sized chunks' Independent

'Sedaris observes and records with a laser-sharp wit and deceptive lightness' Esquire

'Filled with his trademark wit and warmth' Prima

'Accomplished, amusing, self-revealing and self-knowing' TLS

'A straight-up joy' London Standard

'Delicious, acerbic essays from the man that you'd most like to sit next to at a dinner party ... he excavates the absurd and the gloriously petty aspects of modern life and serves it up in razor sharp form' Grazia

'Heartbreaking and hilarious' The Observer

'The best book I've read in the past year ... He's hilarious and thoughtful' Sam Taylor-Johnson