So I haven't read any of the Game of Thrones books. And I've barely seen any of the show. That being said, I hear there's some crazy bonkers stuff in those books with the incest and the doin' it and the murder. So the guy who's sitting across from me reading one of the books with a huge grin on his face is making this an uncomfortable morning from the get. I hope there's some good jokes in there and he's not smiling at the baby-stabbings, is all I'm saying.
Alright, alright. Good morning. Yesterday I finished Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris so I might as well talk about it, huh?
This might be a two book blog now that I think about it, though, because at this point you probably know what's going on here. I almost hesitate to be at all critical because I feel like Sedaris is such a big sweetie that if somehow my words reached him he'd be sad. Does anyone want to make David Sedaris sad? I submit to you that they do not.
So I guess I'll just get it out of the way. I love about 3/4 of this book. I understand the bind that it puts him in, because he's told so many stories by now it's probably hard to dig more up from his past, and his new stories are a little harder to relate to (we bought yet another house in another amazing place, but get this there's litter in England) but darnit I just think his fiction/satire is not entertaining. I assume this is the "etc." advertised on the cover.
There are the usual heartwarming stories of Sedaris' family, which alternates between dysfunctional and loving (like most families, I guess) and a couple of them really got me right here. There are stories of Sedaris and Hugh's adventures as they buy and sell real estate across the world, which are funny and interesting in a stranger in a new place sort of way, and then there are the stories where Sedaris puts himself in the shoes of someone he disagrees with. These are just too broad for me. They seem to be based on the weirdos who call in to talk radio, and sure those folks exist, but they're even boring caricatures of themselves. I guess I'm disappointed because Sedaris is so loving and kind to the people he loves, in spite of many, many flaws, that I think his writing would be more effective if he applied this kind of empathy to the "other" that he's trying to skewer.
Anyway, still fun to read, guys. I totally recommend it.
