When You Can't Sleep: "Sleep Demons" by Bill Hayes

Bill Hayes is an insomniac. It's been a problem since childhood. In this hilarious memoir Hayes explores the role that sleeplessness has played in his life. When you can't sleep, you have to do something else with the time. How people

He seamlessly weaves in all kinds of research about sleep, mattresses, flannel sheets with anecdotes about standing over his partner to make sure he was still breathing or being discovered watching the couple that lived across the street when he turned on the lights to put fresh batteries in his Walkman.

This was a book that clipped by, another read that I missed when I had finished it. It is no longer in print, but numerous copies are available used through amazon.com

By the way, if the cover art seems familiar, that's because it was done by Maurice Sendak, who is a friend of the author. I believe that it's a painting of Hayes' late partner Steve. I met them both; Steve was a sweet man whose life was cut short by AIDS.

Hayes has also authored "The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy" and "Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood".

Laugh Out Loud: Winterdance by Gary Paulson

Many things amuse me, but few make me laugh out loud. You can ask my friends - I get a wry smile and nod my head at their jokes. But Gary Pauson's book is an exception. At times I put the book down because I was laughing so hard I needed to wipe tears away.

I ran across Winterdance in a used book store, where someone had left it in the wrong section. I opened it and couldn't stop reading. It was a cheap copy, so I figured, what the heck.

Gary Paulson stumbled into putting together a team of sled dogs and entering the Iditarod, which is, to say the least, a punishing ride across Alaskan tundra. The dogs get a kick out of it, indeed, seem to live for it, but some humans don't survive. Now that I think of it, some of the dogs don't either.

Don't let the pretty cover or the sweet, poetic title of this book fool you. This is a bawdy romp of a memoir; Paulson and Chaucer could easily keep company with each other. While Paulson is as crude as he is honest, this makes the beautiful and poignant moments stand out that much more. There are wondrous things to encounter in the wilderness.

Also do not be fooled - the movie Sled Dogs is "based" on this book. Let's say that they are both about guys who run the Iditarod. The movie is a far cry from the book.

Read it. You'll learn something. You'll laugh. You'll be awed by the power of our earth. If you have thought of running the Iditarod, at least you'll know what you're getting into. As for me, this vicarious experience was very satisfying and I was sorry when it was over.