The best books that capture culture through observation and humour

I borrowed Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim from a friend years back, and instantly fell in love with David Sedaris. 

I could have picked any book by Mr. Sedaris - they are all brilliant and have been hugely influential in my writing journey—but I vividly remember reading the chapter "Six to Eight Black Men", which beautifully illustrates a Dutch Christmas cultural tradition and shows it up in all its whacky weirdness, solely through storytelling and observation. Alone in my bedroom, I remember having to put the book down because I was howling with laughter. 

David Sedaris is the master of pinpointing the ludicrous, seemingly without effort or trying to be funny. 

He is one of my heroes. I think I became a bit obsessed.

Apart from being a wonderfully talented actor, Richard E. Grant is a fantastic writer.

This 1996 book is a raw and honest account of his early acting career from landing his springboard role in the cult classic With Nails to working with some of the giants in Hollywood from Steve Martin and Bruce Willis to Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

Each chapter is a film role, and Grant seems to float through the various hiccoughs and hilarity with a self-effacing charm. His perspective of being the observer, seeing everything from the sidelines; of someone who perhaps shouldn’t really be there, is the essence of his writing.

Richard E. Grant captures the crazy of Hollywood film culture in the narrative and snippets of conversation, nuance of character, situation, and place.

Michael Palin is possibly the best travel writer ever and it comes down to him being a naturally funny person. He also comes across as a super nice human, someone I would love to chat with in a café or bar and share travel stories.

I could have picked any one of his books, but I have chosen the North Korea Journal because it is a country that I probably won’t ever travel to unless, of course, I land a job there!

Michael Palin approaches each event with non-judgmental openness. It would be easy to slip into ridicule, but the humour comes from personal, very British comparisons. For example, the Kim Jong Un propaganda on a train trip he likens to ‘a mixture of the Brit Awards, Last Night of the Proms and an arms sales conference.’ Brilliant writing.

Greg Lemoine and I share several parallels. We are both teachers on the international circuit, we have both completed a tour of duty in Kuwait and we both see the funny side. But what we share most is an insatiable appetite for travel and an inherent nosiness for learning about culture, discovering new places, and adventure, which sometimes finds its way onto a page.

With Finding the Right Fit you get two books in one: a guide to international teaching containing helpful tips and advice on how to land a job overseas, and a very entertaining memoir of someone who has years of experience in the field. As a solo traveller, Lemoine sees humour and comedy that come about when left to your own devices.

I read Video Night in Kathmandu when I was travelling in India the first time around. It was an education in East-West relations and opened my eyes to travel being a huge privilege. I also learned to arrive in a new place with, as far as possible, no expectations. Pico Iyer is incredibly insightful and draws attention to the fluidity of culture. He acknowledges his Indian roots and how your own cultural heritage can’t help but colour your experience of a place: something to be mindful of. The video mentioned in the title is Rambo, rammed full of western hegemonic ideals, which, weirdly, was a smash hit everywhere in Asia. Iyer’s observations are absolutely on point, entertaining, highlighting the bizarre which, of course, is very funny, as well as thought-provoking.