By Stuart Nulman
When I first saw the title “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” in Little, Brown’s spring catalogue, I thought it was another scientific book that outlined a new approach to finding revolutionary, innovative treatments for diabetes. But when I saw David Sedaris’ name attached to the title, I knew that it was just one of his quirky titles for what would be another future bestselling collection of humourous essays.
After reading the book, I discovered three things: this book has nothing to do with diabetes, has something (but very little) to do with owls, and that David Sedaris has put together another hilarious collection of stories that have already topped the New York Times bestseller list.
“Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” is Sedaris’ most personal book, with the majority of the essays based on aspects of his career as a bestselling author and travelling lecturer, as well as scenes from his early life, especially life with his father … a loud, intimidating individual who liked to eat his dinner wearing his dress shirt and underpants. We get a bombastic introduction to David’s dad in “Attaboy”, when he scares one of David’s schoolmates (albeit the wrong one) at the dinner table, because he allegedly called his sister Lisa a bitch (with father Sedaris compensating for his wrongful accusation by offering the scared schoolmate a bowl of months-old ice cream). In fact, father Sedaris is the subject of two other essays in the collection, each one funnier than the other, which leads to the conclusion that maybe his dad should be the subject of a separate tome in the future.
The rest of the essays are basically various scenes from Sedaris’ life, as he tackles each subject with an effective mixture of quality storytelling and self-deprecating humour. Such fine examples includes David’s trip to Australia, where through feeding a kookaburra bird raw duck meat, discovers the true nature of the Aussie fowl that is the subject of a popular children’s song; we follow him on a North American book tour (which wraps up at a Costco in Toronto), where during every stop, he puts up a sign next to his table that says “No Photos, Please”; we discover a new meaning to the expression “taking the law into your own hands”, as David and his dad go on a self-initiated manhunt to find the individual who assaulted his sister Gretchen; in one of the most bizarre, and Hitchcockian essays, David visits a taxidermy shop in England, where the owner shows him some of the gruesome curios that are displayed in the shop (including a severed human arm); and in “#2 to Go”, David takes the reader on a stomach-turning gastronomic journey to China (it’s a fascinating piece, but it’s not recommended reading during mealtime … ANY mealtime, that is).
Whether it be French dentists, British visas, or getting that first colonoscopy, David Sedaris has given his fans another treat with “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls”. Although we may not find a cure for diabetes after reading this jewel of a book, Sedaris has indeed given us a cure for the absurdities and foibles that are part of our daily lives. Like Mark Twain and Will Rogers before him, Sedaris knows how to tackle these issues with the power of words and humour.
This review originally appeared in the June 1 edition of the West End Times.
