The reader is led to relate the judgment the young boy throws upon his neighbor to the pretensions of freedom of speech and religion the American society was proud of in the epoch. As soon as the notion of belief entered the equation, it became political and small children were taught to resent in others anything that alluded to the restraint of such liberties. It is ironic, however, that the young boy was revolted by the restriction to have a TV set and be able to watch it that he believed his neighbor imposed upon his entire family. The television was climbing to the top and children all over America were sharing the same values, images, symbols and jokes they were able to share through their TV screen. The revolution in technology that had brought TV into the American homes offered the new generation something to share, something distinct than what past generations had. The Tomkey children were apparently deprived of this basic right to share since they had no way of connecting their world to that on the small screen. On the contrary, at home "their were forced to talk during diner" ("Us and Them," p. 5). What is likeable about the way Sedaris recalls such memories from...

Beyond the mere record of a certain stage in his life, he makes no point of demonizing someone or something.
"Let it Snow" and "The Girl Next Door" are two stories dedicated to his mother and respectively to the notion of motherhood. The first story is less humoristic and appeals to the reader once again through Sedaris' unique gift of making himself understood in a few well chosen words. Although the reader is tempted to hate the way the older brother along with his sisters were treating the youngest, Tiffany, in a crisis situation, the story reaches the climax once the slightly alcoholic mother appears up on the hill to rescue her children she herself put in danger: "Another car passed, and then we saw our mother, this puffy figure awkwardly negotiating the crest of the hill. She did not own a pair of pants, and her legs were buried to the calf in snow. We wanted to send her home, to kick her out of nature just as she had kicked us out of the house, but it was hard to stay angry at someone that pitiful-looking" (Let it Snow, p. 16). The writer seems to be negotiating with the reader, after having