Squirrel seeks chipmunk : a modest bestiary

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Title:

Squirrel seeks chipmunk : a modest bestiary

Author:

Sedaris, David, author.

Falconer, Ian, 1959-2023, illustrator.

Summary:

A collection of stories in which animals confront situations which resemble aspects of human life, including the title selection in which a squirrel and a chipmunk find their love for one another threatened by their disapproving family members.

Audience:

Adult Follett Library Resources

Edition:

1st ed.

Contents:

The cat and the baboon -- The migrating warblers -- The squirrel and the chipmunk -- The toad, the turtle, and the duck -- The motherless bear -- The mouse and the snake -- The parenting storks -- The faithful setter -- The crow and the lamb -- The sick rat and the healthy rat -- The cow and the turkey -- The vigilant rabbit -- The judicious brown chicken -- The parrot and the potbellied pig -- Hello kitty -- The grieving owl.

Physical Description:

viii, 159 p. : col. ill. ; 19 cm.

Genre:

Subject Term:

American wit and humor.

Author(s):

Falconer, Ian, 1959-2023,

Publisher:

Little, Brown,

Publication Date:

2010

ISBN:

9780316038393

Publication Information:

New York : Little, Brown, 2010.

Call Number:

SEDARIS

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002383787	Adult Fiction	SEDARIS	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Featuring David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life.

In "The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck," three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In "Hello Kitty," a cynical feline struggles to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings. In "The Squirrel and the Chipmunk," a pair of star-crossed lovers is separated by prejudiced family members.

With original illustrations by Ian Falconer, author of the bestselling Olivia series of children's books, these stories are David Sedaris at his most observant, poignant, and surprising.

Author Notes

David Sedaris was born in Binghamton, New York on December 26, 1956, but he grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Much of Sedaris' humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating, and it often concerns his family life, his middle class upbringing in the suburbs of North Carolina. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1987. He is a popular radio commentator, essayist, and short story writer. He held many part-time and odd jobs before getting a job reading excerpts from his diaries on National Public Radio in 1992.

His first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, was published in 1994. His other works include Naked, Holidays on Ice, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002), and Calypso. Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor in 2001. He has also written several plays with his sister Amy Sedaris including Stump the Host, Stitches, and The Little Frieda Mysteries. In 2014 her title, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, made The New York Times Best Seller List.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Like a modern-day Aesop or La Fontaine, Sedaris has his darkly comic and deeply cynical (if somewhat rambling) morality stories enacted by animals. Although Sedaris typically narrates his works solo, here he is joined by Dylan Baker, Si,n Phillips, and (the incomparable) Elaine Stritch. The dry tones of both women are particularly well suited to the knowing commentary offered by various domesticated, barnyard, and wild animals on casual racism, self-congratulatory sanctimony, poor excuses for adultery, and fad spiritualism, among other common societal ills. The audiobook features a bonus fable not available in the text version of the book; in addition, the third CD includes PDFs of the book's illustrations by Ian Falconer (writer/illustrator of the Olivia picture book series). A Little, Brown hardcover. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.