Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories - Mike Birbiglia

First of all, phew.  After coming to this book after reading Charles Dickens, I appreciate Mike Birbiglia in a whole new way.  A very welcome change!  But of course, I already love Mike Birbiglia from hearing him on the radio and having just seen him at the Keswick Theater - where, it just so happens, I got this lovely (signed!) copy of his new book.  And it's a delight.

One of the things that I like best about Mike Birbiglia is his voice.  Not just his actual speaking voice, although that's pretty snazzy, but his comedic voice.  And it really comes through in his writing here.  There were times where I found myself reading slower than I might normally read so that I could read it in the rhythm of how I imagined him saying it.  And I think that that's the sign of someone who knows his voice.

It's a collection of stories, true stories as the title implies...different episodes throughout his life.  And it's awesome.  So my one friend who actually reads this - you know that I can be a bit, well, melodramatic.  Especially when I'm not feeling well.  Which is why this paragraph made me laugh out loud.

     When I was nineteen, my doctor found a malignant tumor in my bladder.  But it's funny - stay with me - because I was a hypochondriac, and the funniest thing that can happen to you as a hypochondriac is that you get cancer, because it confirms every fear you've ever had and allows you to say to your family, "See?  I told you!  Remember last week when I was overtired and I thought I had rickets?  I was probably right about that too.  There are gonna be a lot of changes around here!"


Genius.

So, my friends, if you're looking for some good laughs with some good insights along the way, go get this book.  I highly recommend it.  And Mike Birbiglia - we should hang out sometime.  You seem pretty awesome.