Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

I have a great deal of admiration for David Sedaris. I once went to a book signing he had at our college's bookstore. I went to a live taping of This American Life where he was a reader (although on closer inspection of my memory, I wonder if it was actually David Rakoff). 

    Parenthetical break: I used to do things when I lived in the Twin Cities.  That is all.

I think Sedaris is best in an audio format. I feel like I would LOVE this book if I had listened to the audiobook. Instead, as with most short story or essay collections, it is a book filled with hits and misses.  I would divide the book up into about four different types of writings: those of his misspent youth, his travels, his hobbies, and fiction.

I can't even with the fiction that Sedaris writes. It's meant to be sardonic and maybe even satirical, but it's never funny or clever. So let's just assume that I basically skimmed through those stories.

I particularly like it when Sedaris writes about the strange things that occupy his time and his mind. There's a story, "Understanding Understanding Owls," about how he decided that he wanted to buy his boyfriend Hugh a stuffed owl. What he meant by stuffed owl, however, was a real owl that had been though the taxidermy process.  This is apparently illegal in many places, including the United States and France.  However, in the UK, the rules are looser, particularly if the bird died naturally or the "stuffed bird" was an antique. This led Sedaris to a taxidermy shop to purchase an owl and hilarity ensued. What I liked about this story was the strangeness of the topic. Who would think about taxidermy as a gift item? Even if you really like owls, why is a formerly live one a good present for someone you love?  It's such a gem to read about someone who loves something deeply, even if that something is utterly incomprehensible to you.

"Rubbish" is about how when Sedaris moved to West Sussex, he noticed that there was litter everywhere.  "The center of life is a little food shop, and walking to it on that first December afternoon, I saw more litter than I had the entire fifteen years I spent in Normandy." (215)  Instead of just bitching about it, he went all Lady Bird Johnson on that shit and started spending hours a day picking up trash.  It's so endearing to think about what a change he undoubtedly made in that community by simply doing a simple task.  I always think I should take a bag for trash out when I walk the dog, but I never do. Maybe reading this will give me some motivation to do so.

Anyway, it's a mixed bag, as always with Sedaris. I think you should listen to it, if that's possible for you.  But, it's still a funny look at modern life and worth your time.