This Exploration is Sure to Delight
By David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company, $27.00, 275 pages
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls is one of David Sedaris’ best collections of writing yet. Combining sarcasm, irony, and beautiful prose, Sedaris comments on the state of American politics, British immigration and what to do when one has acquired too many owls.
Put forth in this book are 26 pieces of writing; 19 essays, 1 poem and 6 pieces of short fiction. Sedaris’ essays are lovely; small glimpses into his childhood and formative years that helped form the talented writer and speaker he is today. The fiction though is what truly stands out. Through this medium Sedaris lets his wit and irony flow free.
In one of the best stories, titled I Break for Traditional Marriage, Sedaris attacks the conservative belief that legalizing gay marriage will be the downfall of America. Upon hearing gay marriage has been legalized in his home state, a man promptly kills his nagging wife, lay about daughter, and irritating mother-in-law, before finally running over a child in a school zone. The man figures if two men, or two women, can get married, then everything else must be legal as well, or soon will be.
It is this type of sarcastic thinking that ensures Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls to be a favorite of Sedaris fans and those who have never had the pleasure of hearing or reading Sedaris.
Reviewed by Andrew Keyser
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