In his clinical practice in sleep medicine, Dr. Colon has made several observations. One, insomnia is commonly accompanied with complaints of "racing thoughts" and "my mind won't shut down". Another, patients with insomnia do not commonly read insomnia self-help books as they state they are "difficult to read". The Sleep Diet is a "novel" approach to insomnia because it is indeed a novel and not a mere list of instructions. Dr. Colon firmly believes explanations are more important than instructions. Laughter makes people feel good, and also has an alerting quality. His style in this book is to make you laugh and then make you think.