It feels like Sedaris is trying so hard to be clever and funny but he's failed at both.

The Basics

A series of human situations as lived by animals.

My Thoughts

I really don’t know who this was for. It’s written like a series of fables in a minimalist, almost young style, as if for children. The illustrations are whimsical with a dark twist. The stories are adult in nature, but they aren’t engaging or even guilty pleasures, just depressing. Depressing stories written as if for children but they’re clearly for adults. I guess Sedaris thought he was being cute and clever, but I had a very strong, negative reaction to it.

If I’m being honest, it wasn’t just the mix of disparate styles that bothered me. I know what juxtaposition is, and I do think it can work, but this felt like someone reaching for heights they weren’t capable of. These stories were dark and raw and focused on bleak moments and nasty characters. And there never seemed to be a point to it. I don’t know what Sedaris was trying to say, why he wanted to say it, or particularly why he wanted to say it with cute pictures of animals. Maybe it was supposed to be simply ironic or sarcastic, but if so, I find that lazy.

I’m all for bleak fiction, telling the stories that aren’t happy, but I was genuinely pissed at how he seemed to want it to be funny. It’s a shame this was my first Sedaris, because I’ve heard that he really does have a good sense of humor, but I’m not up for laughing at misfortune. I think that’s too easy and a more than a little cruel. It’s burned me to the point that I’m reluctant to read any of his other work.

Final Rating

1/5

 

So... I'm pretty sure I don't like this book... review to come when I figure it out.

It seems more than a few reviewers found this book to be sick and twisted, and I can see where they're coming from. But I thought it was cute.

These animal fables are hilarious but in the way that makes you go 'Ouch!' Nasty, close to the bone - or, in one relatively touching(!!!??) instance - closer to a hippo's asshole than I would personally care to get. These are not, on the whole, nice animals. Some of them are as unpleasant as the unpleasant people you know from the office, but others are like people you fortunately only come across in the media. There was a rabbit who reminded me irresistibly of George Zimmerman. Then again, there were a couple of birds I must have met a hundred times. I still haven't figured out what to do about those birds. It's only because I allow my moral code to override my natural instincts that they aren't lying upside down, plucked and roasted on a piece of toast by now. But reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk made me feel a lot more vicious and who knows what may happen next time. So, it really isn't for everyone, especially not for people who like to maintain a sunny, optimistic attitude towards their fellow humans.

What else? Well, the book broke my regionalized book classification system. The style is so thoroughly continental European, the subject matter belongs to the English-speaking world, especially but not exclusively to the USA. I wasn't in the least surprised to learn that Sedaris is American but living in France. There's an obvious connection between his stories and those of La Fontaine. La Fontaine was vicious for his time as well. His stories were were meant for adults, but for some reason, they're now read to French children and always used to make me cry. I'm old and cynical now but all the same, I should have spread this book out over several weeks. There was definitely a point where I was thinking, 'Okay, David Sedaris, you know, one of the reasons I read books is so I can avoid being with people like this all the time!'