Author captures regional differences in whiteness

Christian Lander
Blogger and Canadian Christian Lander has a second New York Times bestseller with "Whiter Shades of Pale," a regional guide to the white people of North America
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

Satirical writer Christian Lander thought he was on to a good, but probably short-lived, thing with his blog, and then a book called "Stuff White People Like."

"I am writing a guide to white people, essentially a guide to, obviously, a very specific type of white people," he said during a visit to the Twin Cities Wednesday, the kind who listen to public radio.

"It's upper middle-class liberals, and I am writing a guide to them," Lander said. "How to understand them, and more importantly how to exploit them for personal gain, because they are definitely one of the most under-utilized resources in America. They have nothing but money and guilt, and if you are not white, very, very easy to extract favors."

Such was the success of his book that Lander has now come out with a regional guide, called "Whiter Shades of Pale." He talked with MPR's Euan Kerr about how he depicts the typical white person in the Twin Cities.