SIBELSNAAT by Dan Dial

Not recognizing the author, I was not in a hurry to read this little book so it lingered a while in my bedside pile. But now having read it once, I want to read it again (and perhaps more than once) because there are hidden clever corners that pop up in my mind & I want to go back over the context. It reminded me vividly how our histories flow through our veins and actions and memories, how all things are connected and how throwing a pebble into a pond reveals ever widening circles of connections with the everyday. I enjoyed it immensely. 

Dan Dial (or someone) tells a fanciful tale with great humor and a moral purpose. He rubs a bottle and out pops a genie with special powers. As a lone environmentalist, the genie saves the whales, returns territories to Native Americans and more. As he fades, he commands us ‘sibelsnaats’ to continue to save the world. A good read with a lasting POP! 

SIBELSNAAT by Dan Dial. If you were to meet Dan Dial you do not look him in the eyes, just walk on by quickly! When you read his book you will understand why. Dial has an extraordinary power, some would call it a gift, others a curse. The book holds surprises, but the pieces of the puzzle come together in the high stakes game. It is a beautifully written and researched book, but you need to be brave to read it. 

Dan Dial is not your typical co-worker, neighbor, or author, for that matter. For one thing, he has an answer to what ails the world. He offers you the chance to share this insight with him. What makes him different is his superpower to enter another person's mind, and influence it through coaxing and manipulation. He calls this "enmezzlement", and its central to his story of how to influence the world and avoid earth's and humanity's destruction. It's his vision of how to solve the litany of earth's ills, including starvation, over-population, climate change, and above all, greed and selfishness. He even offers you an option for getting to his solution. You can follow his journey of life and how to he came to enlightenment, or as he puts it "if my metabolism bores you and you'd like to skip ahead to the threat I propose making on your life, then I suggest you turn to the last ten pages of this book." Do yourself a favor, dear reader, and bear with him. It's worth the journey. 

Silbesnaat is a very compelling book that kept me glued until the very last page. It will fill you with questions that made it even more interesting to read. The mystery kept me on my toes and nothing in this book was predictable. This was very well-written. This is one of a kind and I'd recommend everyone to read this. 

A succinct and stark indictment of humanity's inability to save itself.  

I enjoyed the concept of this book as much as the content. It’s the supposed ‘second edition’ of a book originally (purportedly) published in October 2015 if the copyright page is to be believed. Although more of a novella than a book, it makes pretty rich reading all the same, and the unexpected ending was the brandy-laced icing on the cupcake. 

This rapid tour of Dan Dial's dastardly doings had me intrigued. Are his exploits real or a figment of his overactive imagination? Could he have saved the world? Are we too late to try? Is he really dead and how much longer do we have? If only he had used his enmezzling technique to deter Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and all the other threats to the planet perhaps we would be in a better place right now! 

This is a passionate and well-written account of one man's despair about the current state of the world we are stuck with and his ingenious plans for dealing with it. Highly recommended. 

Warning: Only start if you are commitment free for several hours. The zeal, wit and mystery of the protagonist, combined with an excellently written and thought-provoking story meant that this novella was hungrily devoured in one sitting. It stays with you upon completion and will no doubt be re-read before too long.