No one does funny-quirky-poignant quite like David Sedaris, and his newest book of essays, Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls (Little, Brown and Company, $17) is no exception. He will take part in a book reading, Q&A, and signing at Politics and Prose on Monday, June 9th at 7 p.m.
Sedaris definitely knows how to get a reader’s attention. Exhibit A, the book’s title. He told Oprah magazine, “A person would either leap at a book called Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls or be repelled by it. I would leap for it. I’d think, ‘What on earth do owls have to tell us about diabetes?'”
High blood sugar does not play a clear role in any of the stories, but wise birds do make an appearance. Since Sedaris’s partner Hugh has an affinity for owls, the author decides a stuffed one would make for a perfectly unexpected Valentine’s Day gift. Then his trip to the taxidermy store almost results in the purchase of a human head! (Well, close — no spoilers here.)
Twenty of the book’s 26 essays are autobiographical and cover topics like getting dental work done in France (“Dentists Without Borders”), how Sedaris stockpiles bits of information for stories (“Day In, Day Out”), a pleasant colonoscopy experience (“The Happy Place”), and living overseas during the 2008 election (“Obama!!!!!”). Much is drawn from Sedaris’s private journal entries, which “helps me as well,” he writes in “Day In, Day Out”. “‘That wasn’t your position on July 7, 1991,’ I’ll remind Hugh an hour after we’ve had a fight. I’d have loved to rebut him sooner, but it takes awhile to look these things up.”
Sedaris’s silliness is well-balanced by thoughtful observations about family, culture, and politics. He shares his perspectives on getting older (“As a child I assumed that when I reached adulthood, I would have grown-up thoughts”) and same-sex marriage (“States vote to take away my marriage rights, and even though I don’t want to get married, it tends to hurt my feelings. I guess what bugs me is that it was put to a vote in the first place. If you don’t want to marry a homosexual, then don’t. But what gives you the right to weigh in on your neighbor’s options? It’s like voting whether or not redheads should be allowed to celebrate Christmas”).
Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls is Sedaris’s eighth book, receiving mixed reviews compared to Sedaris’s extremely popular Naked (1997) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2001), though it still debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times’ bestseller list. Sedaris’s work is regularly featured in Esquire and The New Yorker, and he frequently narrates radio pieces on NPR’s This American Life. He has received multiple humorist awards and Grammy nominations in the spoken word category.
Tickets are required to attend the event. They are free with the purchase of the book, or will be distributed on June 9th at the store. There are an unlimited number of tickets, but Politics and Prose suggests that attendees arrive around 5:30 p.m. in order to get a seat. No photos or videos are allowed, and Sedaris will only sign copies of his own books. Beer and wine will be available.
