David Sedaris is an American writer and humorist, who is well traversed through European culture, as is supported by the fact that at the time of this particular story taking place, he was situated in Normandy, France. Being an American in Europe, his apparent accent easily gives away his nationality, which opens the way for people of all kinds to interrogate him on matters pertaining to American culture. Throughout the story, we receive David’s irony ridden take on people’s incessant questioning about the American election between Obama & McCain, for which David himself grows exceedingly tired. This is presented in a statement such as "I could have written a history of frosting and still they'd have asked me about Guantánamo" (p. 1, l. 47), where we clearly see that the author is fed up with the fact that the Europeans, whom he encounters on his journey, are almost entirely fixated on picking his mind when it comes to the latest American newsflash, rather than finding out what’s beneath Sedaris’ blatantly American veneer. As he himself continues: “It's not that I don't have opinions about these things; I just don't feel that they're in any way special." (p. 1, l. 52). Despite the author’s somewhat cynical attitude, he does feel justified in rejecting people’s stereotypes about Americans, which we will touch further upon.
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