Quotes from book
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Name: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Author: David Sedaris

David Sedaris

Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls is a collection of narrative essays by David Sedaris. The book was released on April 23, 2013. It debuted at the Number One Spot on the New York Times Bestseller List. Sedaris has said the title was one he had considered for his previous book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk and was inspired by a fan's suggestion that he inscribe a book with a message along the lines of "explore your inner feelings: "I never write what people ask me so I said, 'I’ll keep the word explore' and I wrote, 'let’s explore diabetes with owls.' "

“In Japanese and Italian, the response to ["How are you?"] is "I'm fine, and you?" In German it's answered with a sigh and a slight pause, followed by "Not so good.”

David Sedaris book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Source: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

“Their house had real hard-cover books in it, and you often saw them lying open on the sofa, the words still warm from being read.”

David Sedaris book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

Variant: Their house had real hardcover books in it, and you often saw them lying open on the sofa, the words still warm from being read.
Source: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

“In the beginning, I was put off by the harshness of German. Someone would order a piece of cake, and it sounded as if it were an actual order, like, "Cut the cake and lie facedown in that ditch between the cobbler and the little girl."”

David Sedaris book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

I'm guessing this comes from having watched too many Second World War movies.

Essay, "Easy, tiger". p.80
Source: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls (2013)