Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, by David Sedaris, review These pieces are sprinkled throughout the text and I often found myself reading them, frowning and thinking, "This is not Sedaris talking." So he's having a bit of fun with the reader, enjoying straying into fiction. These monologues are funny. But his own take on life is more pleasurable to read. The chapter entitled "Obama!!!!!" is priceless, satirising the excitement about the US president's background. Barack Obama, who is black, is arriving now with his black wife and two black children, a group that will form America's first black First Family, which is to say, the first group of blacks elected to the White House, which is white and not black like them. Sedaris likes to send up his own liberalism. He might not be a Republican but he's a stickler for grammar and standards and admits he is pernickety. On the other hand, he doesn't want to find himself in the same boat as those with reactionary views. It was one of those situations that I often find myself in while travelling. Something's said by a stranger I've been randomly thrown into contact with, and I want to say, 'Listen, I'm with you on most of this, but before we continue, I need to know who you voted for in the last election."" There are sudden moments of honesty, revelation and frailty, where Sedaris casually reveals something poignant about his relationship with his family, such as his lifelong failure to live up to his father's expectations. It's all the more powerful because he's otherwise so self-deprecating and offhand. Long may he write. And long may the "Indefinite Leave" sticker remain in the once stolen and now returned passport of this honorary Briton. Viv Groskop's account of becoming a stand-up comedian, I Laughed, I Cried, is published in June by Orion. Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris 288pp, Abacus, t £11.99 (PLUS £1.35 p&p) 0844 871 1515 (RRP £12.99, ebook £6.99)