Ever shared laughs with a hyena, chatted up a strawberry, or had a chinwag with a boomerang?

Forget about all those gurus out there, telling you how to live your life. Wisdom is all around you, available in the most unlikely places—from dinosaurs to dandelions, mattresses to parking meters, popes to peanuts, toothbrushes to toilets, and plenty of other wiseguys you've never talked to before. A Talk on the Wild Side is a collection of outrageous conversations, filled with irreverent insights, off-the-wall humour, and large dollops of unconventional wisdom. Life will never be the same again—and you'll find yourself talking to the strangest things. (Just don't let anyone see you doing it.)

A fantastic, thought-provoking read. You'll learn more about yourself from a park bench, a maple leaf and a newborn baby than you could possibly have imagined.

—Mike Tse, filmmaker/animator

Did Tyrannosaurus rex have regrets? Does a hyena care what people think? How does a maple leaf deal with aging? And what can a parking metre teach us about responsibility? Olga Sheean challenges us to question everything and assume nothing—which can be challenging, given our stubborn, sneaky beliefs. Written with wisdom and lashings of humour, A Talk on the Wild Side is a fantastic tool for living a life full of fun and authenticity! I chuckled my way through the book, nodding in agreement. My daughter thought I was doing an impression of an epileptic chicken.

—David Maleney, author, inventor, actor, comedian

A Talk on the Wild Side was a pleasure to read. It’s playful with a liberal helping of magic, but beneath the humorous façade is a wonderful teaching. It posed an interesting question for me: What is our relationship to the world around us, and even the inanimate objects in our lives that we take for granted? Are we paying attention to what they can share with us? If we could get out of our adult heads for a moment and treat reality with a little less gravity, what might we discover for ourselves?

I really believe that we can be in a conversation with everything in our lives and, yes, a hub cap and your subconscious both have something delightful to discuss with you. I guarantee if you read this book you will never look at your toothbrush in the same way again, and you may find yourself in a wonderful conversation with a park bench.

—David Frank Gomes, coach, catalyst, mentor: www.davidfrankgomes.com