Thursday 20 May 2010

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Canada

I knew I was going to enjoy this book as soon as I held it in my hands. The back cover contains the often seen 'advance praise' you find on a book. However, this advance praise is provided in the form of quotes obtained from children aged 2-6 and struck me as particularly funny. Inside the flap of the jacket is a questionnaire that helps the reader to establish if they are going to like the book or be terribly offended. Both of these features caused me to feel good about this title before I had even turned a page.

The Bedwetter is an interesting read. In it, Sarah Silverman shares many different aspects of her life. I was greatly surprised by the lengths to which she opened up and came across as almost vulnerable at times. Even the most shocking of anecdotes (and there are more than a few!) reveal a more naive, innocent, and very unique individual. It's certainly one of the more interesting biographies I have read and the inclusion of photographs, especially the full colour images in the center of this book, added a little something.

The book reads with a flowing quality, helped I suspect by the wonderfully designed layout which clearly shows where each anecdote begins and ends. If it were not for that layout, with some of the anecdotes being a mere paragraph long I imagine the reader could have had quite a jarring experience. It was great to see that so much thought clearly went into this.

All in all, I liked this. It was an entertaining read. I love that Sarah Silverman can bring fun and laughter to any situation. That said, I admit that some parts of this book were not for me. I found myself struggling to find the humour in some of the writing when it was very clearly destined to make the reader laugh. The language and content may not be for everyone but if you aren't easily offended and have a good sense of humour, give it a whirl. You won't regret it!

I have to add too, that I had purchased the DVD of the Sarah Silverman Program and I hadn't known quite what to think of it, though some of the content was pretty hilarious. I revisited that DVD once I completed this book and had a whole new appreciation for the humour. That added a little something to this book for me.

You can browse inside this book at HarperCollins Canada by clicking here

2 comments:

online media said...

HI

Great information in this post and I think the book reads with a flowing quality, helped I suspect by the wonderfully designed layout which clearly shows where each anecdote begins and ends.

Canada said...

Never had anything against Sarah, but never followed her religiously either. Bedwetter was endlessly entertaining but wasnt forced at all. It was silly but not to the extent that you lose interest with what she's saying. I've also learmed that she and i are the same person... not like siamese twins or anything though so dont get excited. I dont know it's late, i loved this book, i now have a hetero crush on Sarah, and im going to bed.