She Treads Softly: The Land and Its People

Monday, May 4, 2026

The Land and Its People

The Land and Its People Book Cover

The Land and Its People by David Sedaris
5/26/26; 272 pages
Little, Brown and Company

The Land and Its People by David Sedaris is an excellent, very highly recommended collection of 28 essays, most of which are being published for the first time. I enjoyed every single one of these humorous, impudent, and occasionally poignant essays and found this to be among one of his best collections.

When something happens in life that is odd, surprising, surreal, or over-the-top, I often comment to those I'm with, "Well, this will make a great story." Sedaris is a writer who embodies this sentiment to perfection as he writes about the observations, struggles, absurdities, and experiences he encounters in everyday life. He covers a wide range of topics, including, in part, being a caretaker, traveling, friends, family members, obsessions with aps, encounters with strangers, aging and reflecting on death.

Sure, his wealth allows him access to more experiences and travel than most of us, which he freely talks about, but he still manages to keep it real with discussions of, for example, the puffy, tall toilet seat Hugh needed after hip surgery, finding a favorite brand of underwear, repeated attempts to garner sympathy over a random dog bite, and realizing how many of his friends are now dead. He admits obsessions with Duolingo and 10,000 Apple Watch–monitored steps per day. Sedaris is always himself and not always PC.

Reading these essays felt like a visit with an observant, insightful, and humorous long-time friend where all the filters are off and you can both laugh and share personal anecdotes expressing exactly what you think about anything and everything. The kind of friend who will understand how annoying the reply, "Perfect!" can actually be. Sure, Sedaris can seem to be a bit of a curmudgeon at times, but as a contemporary, can't we all.

The Land and Its People is a welcomed, excellent collection of essays and a must read for fans of Sedaris. Thanks to Little, Brown and Company for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.