Auntie's 2016 Bookworm Challenge 05

Book: The Day I Caught Diabetes.

Author: Mike Alexander

Info: Copyright 2011:  Oxford AL (I think):  Beach Mountain Press.

Rating (on a scale of 1-4 hashtags): # #

What it's about:  Alexander, newly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, attempts to chronicle his 100 pound weight loss.  He uses his own style of humor to try to take the sting out of this dreadful disease.


Favorite Quotes: 

"Today, I tried something I should have never attempted, I jogged 3 laps at the YMCA and I will spend all day tomorrow explaining my two black eyes."  p. 79

"This time I didn't take any diet pills or shots.  There was no lap band or gastric bypass.  There were no shots, injections or crazy diets.  I decided I needed a change and I have been able to make it work.  I decided there would be no crash diet.  I wasn't going to make decisions or do things to try to please other people.  I set my goals, decided I wasn't going to cheat, and started on my journey." - pp. 107-108

What I Liked:

• The author did give some good encouragement for those dealing with diabetes or pre-diabetes.
• Alexander did try, though rather clumsily, to infuse humor into his story.
• At 124 pages, the book was a quick read.

What I didn’t like: 

• The premise of the book is a bit frightening.  I thought when I read the title that his referring to "catching" diabetes was a joke.  However, in reading the book, I missed the tongue and cheek (if there was any).  One does not "catch" diabetes.  Type I diabetes comes from some problem in the ability of the pancreas to produce enough insulin.  Type II is generally lifestyle related.  It's scary that neither his doctor, nor the hospital nutritionist gave him adequate information.  Sure, this book was written five years ago, but even then, there was so much better information just in books and on the internet than the professionals gave him
• The attitude of the author was pretty arrogant and insulting.  Just read the things he says about his wife.  Sheesh.
• I blame many of the other things I didn't like about this book on the editor/publisher.  First, when the author has to apologize for the errors in the book, it means that the editor/publisher didn't do his job. The plethora of formatting, typographical, and grammatical errors could have been corrected and the book not lose the personality of the author.  Second, the disorganization and gaps in information make it look like the editor/publisher just cut and pasted what the author typed and never looked back at it.  Third, I looked up the publisher online.  If the lack of information (which is why I had to guess what city they're from), and bad formatting of their website is any indication of how they publish books, I'm not surprised at how they handled Alexander's story.   It's a shame; this book could have been a lot better.

Takeaway:  This book is not one so much for information, but inspiration.  I happen to know Mr. Alexander (and he'll probably hate my guts if he ever reads this review).  He's one of my cheerful YMCA members who comes in on my shift (which is hard since I'm there from 4:45 to 9:00 a.m.).  He gained back some of the weight, but he hasn't given up.  He's working hard to get it off again and keep it off.  That is the key.  He said his story wasn't over, and it's not.