The Land and Its Peoples
At your speed≈ 5 hrs
Pages261
Audiobook≈ 8½ hrs
261 pages works out to roughly 78,000 words. At an average 250 words a minute that is 5 hrs — a weekend's reading.
Only 12 readers have rated it on Hardcover so far — too few to tell you much either way.
How long does it take to read The Land and Its Peoples?
The Land and Its Peoples is 261 pages, or roughly 78,000 words. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:
| Your pace | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 175 | 7½ hrs |
| Average | 250 | 5 hrs |
| Fast | 400 | 3½ hrs |
Estimated at about 300 words per page. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — use the reading-speed control to set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts.
Every reading time on the site updates to your pace. Page counts are an estimate, so treat the hours as a good guide, not a stopwatch.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read The Land and Its Peoples?
- About 5 hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The Land and Its Peoples runs 261 pages, roughly 78,000 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 7½ hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 3½ hrs.
- How many pages is The Land and Its Peoples?
- 261 pages, which is about 78,000 words and 5 hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we take the figure two of our three sources agree on.
- Is The Land and Its Peoples worth reading?
- Only 12 readers have rated it on Hardcover so far — too few to tell you much either way. What we can tell you for certain is the cost: 261 pages and about 5 hrs of your time, or 3½ hrs if you read quickly. Whether that is worth it depends on the hours you have.
- How long is The Land and Its Peoples audiobook?
- About 8½ hrs, estimated from the 78,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.
From the publisher
He tries on the role of caretaker after his boyfriend Hugh’s hip-replacement surgery, and both succeeds and fails. He buys his sister a cape and discusses his brother with a jaded Duolingo bot. He walks dozens of miles with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire.…
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. There is sadness here—scrolling through his address book, he realizes how many dear friends are now deceased—but also delight: he revels in authors’ biographies, the malapropism that becomes a decades-long inside joke, and pair of well-made cotton underpants. He is bitten by a dog. A train passenger vomits in his face. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn’t. Look how hard it is to be alive! 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 this fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.


