By David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company | 176pgs
Release Date: September 28, 2010

Summary:
Humorist David Sedaris, best known for mining his family life and slightly misspent youth for his wildly entertaining memoir collections, takes a cue from Aesop in his latest book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modern Bestiary. This thin volume of fables, accompanied with illustrations by Ian Falconer, features a menagerie of winged and furry creatures that share the same frustrations and malaise of life that we humans do. In the The Faithful Setter, the marriage of an Irish hound and his mutt wife is strained by her breed insecurities, while Hello Kitty features a disgruntled cat ordered to mandatory AA meetings. But, make no mistake, these are not kiddie fables. The dark humor that is characteristic of Sedaris’ style weaves through most of the plots. In an interview with USA TODAY, the author describes the book “as bedtime stories for children who drink.”

What critics are saying:
Early editorial reviews have been mostly positive for Sedaris’ latest collection of tales. Edie Adelstein of the Colorado Springs Independent applauds the writer’s “scathing talent in which he can make readers laugh in one sentence, and cry in the next.” Though she did find many of the fables too dark for her taste. “However, my courage was rewarded, as by the end of the book, all was made well again by two unassumingly beautiful and delightful tales, including the memorable The Grieving Owl,” she concludes.