When WordsFinest went on hiatus this summer, I found myself still needing an outlet to rant about the entertainment in my life, so I started a Tumblr in order to discuss the books I was reading in my massive amounts of downtime. It has not been in use for a bit, as anyone who has done the college/grad school thing knows exactly how much time you have to read for pleasure (the answer, paradoxically enough, is a negative amount of time). But this is why the lord gave us breaks, and this weekend, I took some time out to give David Sedaris' latest book a read. 2 hours later I was done, but had a cramp in my side from all the maniacal cackling.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is not quite Sedaris' standard fare. Rather than a collection of essays sardonically describing the idiosyncrasies of his life, this book is a collection of fables revolving around anthropomorphized animals (featuring some very charming illustrations by Ian Falconer, who also illustrated the Olivia children's book series). But don't let the fact that the book is about animals and has illustrations let you think that this is a book geared towards children. Rather than telling fables about learning to cooperate or empathize with one another, Sedaris uses his animals simply to add a level of absurdity to day to day uncomfortable situations. The title itself derives from a story where a squirrel and a chipmunk attempt to find some common ground in a romantic relationship, in spite of the fact that neither party's family or friends approve of the other, and that they really have nothing in common. What, you thought this was going to be a happy collection of stories?
Think again.
Other stories include a tale of a stork that lies to its child about where babies come from, then gets in an argument with its sister over how much honesty is acceptable with small children. Another story details the marital collapse of two Irish setters after the female has a a litter of puppies fathered by the bull terrier across the street. Remember when you first found out that Shel Silverstein also had some books for adults and was published in playboy back in the day? This book kind of mimics that feeling. The cute illustrations and fairy tale-esque narrative style provide a hilarious contrast to the occasionally vulgar language and very adult situations. I also guarantee that anyone who reads this book will find more than a couple stories that relate to them a little bit more than they would like to admit. I would go in to more detail, but I simply don't want to ruin the experience.
So go buy this book. Seriously, it's only about 150 pages, with pretty large type and illustrations, so you can't even make the excuse that you don't have time to read it. Hardcore Sedaris fans may not get quite as much of a fix as they are hoping for, as this book certainly has his distinctive tone, but is definitely less depressing than his usual fare. Well, at least less depressing than anyone who has read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim knows he CAN be. But I digress. The book still offers a somewhat bleak outlook on human nature, but provided you like your humor a little on the blackened side, then I guarantee that you will definitely not regret giving this book a read.
Yeah... this about sums up the tone.
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