In Sunday’s LA Times, I reviewed David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.
Somewhere, David Sedaris is giggling.
His new collection of short stories — of mice and chipmunks and dogs, of cats and chickens — appear to be fables, but they’re not exactly. Because, he says, fables have morals; what he’s created is a “modest bestiary,” where lessons might not be learned, and a critter meeting a bloody end might not deserve such a cruel fate. And there’s Ian Falconer, creator of the bestselling Olivia books for children, drawing pictures of it all.
These cute woodland creatures, rendered so Olivia-like, with chance and disaster and ill intentions lurking in the margins – well, it could be a bit unsettling. Or just as easily, it’s wickedly funny.
