Valencia Character Analysis

Valencia is a wealthy woman from Colombia who lives in a beautiful townhouse in Manhattan. Sedaris is initially thrilled when he starts working as Valencia’s personal assistant because this means he can spend several days a week in her home, thereby getting him that much closer to leading the life of a wealthy person in New York City. However, he quickly tires of his job because Valencia is extremely unreasonable. Although she’s rich, she likes to act like she has very little money. This means that she frequently tries to haggle with people who obviously need money more than she does, a spectacle that never ceases to annoy Sedaris, who is himself underpaid. Valencia also owns a small publishing press, though she has only published a couple of books by former Beat poets nobody has heard of. One day, Valencia learns that a local pet shop has lost an exotic bird named Cheeky. The reward for finding Cheeky is $750, so Valencia tells Sedaris that they should find the bird and split the reward. She then points out the window and insists that Cheeky is outside on a nearby branch. When Sedaris looks, he sees nothing but a pigeon, but Valencia forces him to try to capture it. This happens several times, and Sedaris is demoralized by the idea of chasing pigeons. For this reason, he quits when he’s offered a job at a moving company.