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While David Sedaris writes stories about his own life, he has said that he pr efers the term
While David Sedaris writes stories about his own life, he has said that he prefers the term
“humorist,” rather than “memoirist” because it allows him to stretch the truth a little bit more
Narrative
than he could otherwise. In an interview with the Guardian in 2009, he said, “I’ve always
been very upfront about the way I write, and I’ve always used the tools humorists use, such
as exaggeration.” Read the following excerpt in which the interviewer continues to ask him
to elaborate on his approach:
But if Sedaris isn’t claiming to write memoir, the charge is that he should call his work
fiction. He smiles, and sighs. “You know, if you tell a funny story at the dinner table in
front of 10 people, nine of them will laugh, and one of them will say that’s not true. Now,
I never say that to people. I’m never the ‘that’s not true’ guy when someone tells a funny
story. And I don’t like the ‘that’s not true’ guy. I’ve always hated that person.”

Do these comments mean that Sedaris’s writing should be considered “fiction” rather than
“nonfiction”? Would you be upset if it turned out that Sedaris made up elements of the
narrative “Us and Them”? Which details from the piece could be exaggerated without
turning this narrative into a work of fiction? Which details need to be based on fact for this
text to still be considered narrative? What’s the line between the two for you?

Understanding and Interpreting

1. Reread the first paragraph and explain what Sedaris reveals about himself and his family.
2. What are Sedaris’s parents’ views on television, and how do they compare with those of the
Tomkeys?
3. In paragraph 6, Sedaris starts spying on the Tomkeys. Why does he do this, and how should
we as readers judge his actions?
4. In paragraphs 8–9, Sedaris describes how the Tomkey children may not know about two
entertainment figures popular at the time, Elmer Fudd and Will Robinson. Why does Sedaris
think this information is important, and how does he choose to help them? Why?
5. When the Tomkeys purchase a boat, why does Sedaris say, “I felt as if my favorite show had
been cancelled” (par. 10).
6. Summarize what Sedaris does when he is told to bring some of his Halloween candy to the
Tomkey children. What do these actions reveal about him? What does he mean when he says,
“While it hurt to destroy them, it would have hurt even more to give them away” (par. 27)?
7. Reread the dialogue between Sedaris’s mother and Mr. Tomkey about boat trailers (pars.
20–24) and Sedaris’s description of what that dialogue actually meant (par. 25). What does this
dialogue reveal about his mother and about himself?
8. Reread the final paragraph of the narrative. Why does Sedaris not want to “look at himself” as
his mother instructs him to do that night with the candy? How does he keep from “looking at
himself”?
9. Why might Sedaris have chosen to title this piece “Us and Them”?

170
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.

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