Sunday, October 20, 2013

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (audio)

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

"Sedaris is a remarkably skilled storyteller and savvy essayist....And based, on this latest collection, he's getting only better." —-Los Angeles Times

A guy walks into a bar car and...
From here the story could take many turns. When the guy is David Sedaris, the possibilities are endless, but the result is always the same: he will both delight you with twists of humor and intelligence and leave you deeply moved.

Sedaris remembers his father's dinnertime attire (shirtsleeves and underpants), his first colonoscopy (remarkably pleasant), and the time he considered buying the skeleton of a murdered Pygmy. The common thread? Sedaris masterfully turns each essay into a love story: how it feels to be in a relationship where one loves and is loved over many years, what it means to be part of a family, and how it's possible, through all of life's absurdities, to grow to love oneself.

With LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS, David Sedaris shows once again why he is widely considered the "the funniest writer in America" (O, the Oprah Magazine).

My thoughts:
I am ashamed to say that the first David Sedaris book I read for a book club was a chore for me.  It was Me Talk Pretty One Day and the first half was a slog for me, the second half I really enjoyed.  Part of the problem was that I had to read it all in a day to be ready for the book club meeting, but the rest had to have been me.  I wonder now if I would enjoy it all if I read it again.

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls was a fun escape.  One of the things I love about his essays is that they are highly entertaining and provide really good stopping points when you need to go on to something else.  I listen to audio books while running, doing chores and driving.  All things that can't go on forever, or rather that you would like not to go on forever, so it is nice to think I will run until  this essay ends or I can stop putting laundry away when I find out if he buys the Pygmy skeleton.  I have to say I prefer the essays that seem to have come from his own life rather than the ones where he imagines being someone else.  I think the ring of truth in them makes them more compelling for me.

How would you imagine the burglar who stole your computer and passport to be living?  What kind of house would you like to live in in England?  Would you spend your days picking up someone else's trash because it bothered you and not because it was community service?  What would you do to track down your sisters mugger?  All questions you can come away from this book with.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780316154697
  • Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
  • Publication date: 4/23/2013
  • Pages: 275

Meet the Author

David  Sedaris
David Sedaris is the author of the books Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked, and Barrel Fever. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and Public Radio International's This American Life. He lives in England.

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