I had read an excerpt of ‘This is a book’ in some magazine a while ago and had decided then that I would read this book some day. It was not disappointing at all. I had loaned it from the library so had to return it before I was able to complete it, but whatever essays I read where hilarious. Demetri Martin is a gifted humorist and although it didn’t make me completely forget my troubles or pain, it did bring a smile to my face during what I would consider two of the  most emotionally intense months of my life in a very long time.
One of my favorites is the one about a bee. It tells a story of a lady being stung by the bee from all sorts of perspectives; the lady who got stung, the bee who did the act, the magazine used to squash the bee, the squirrel observing the whole episode and so on and so forth. It made me realize that in life it’s a lot about perspectives. You may perform an act that seems perfectly reasonable and accountable from your end but when looked at from another person’s perspective is as convoluted as possible. Maybe the initial reaction is of disbelief but when we explain our thought process (and sometimes that’s the hardest part)that went into it, it makes a little more sense, even if we don’t agree with the logic or reasoning.
In any case, you can’t do much besides completely be honest with yourself and know the true reasons and sometimes there are two levels of reasoning; that which we convince ourselves (the bee was attacking us) and that which is at a subconscious level (i don’t like bees and therefore am justified in getting rid of it).
Coming back to the book, I would recommend it and end with this funny saying from the book:Americans are now officially fatter than snowmans.
Check out this excerpt from online: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/02/28/110228sh_shouts_martin
