Kuunari

I recently finished Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris, and didn’t know what to think of it.  This is the first book by David Sedaris that I have read.  Many of my friends have recommended David Sedaris before, like Becky Stark, but have never really read his stuff because when I’ve never found him that funny when I’ve heard him on NPR.

However, I decided to pick up this book as I’m a big fan of “just so” type stories, and figured I should eventually start reading his work.  For most of the book, I found myself slightly bored and annoyed.  Oh look, more terrible people (or in this case, animals) doing terrible things to each other.

It’s the Magnolia syndrome where terrible things keep happening to people, but it’s not really clear why we should care, because the characters are so terrible to each other.  It’s a style that I know has a number of fans, I’m just not one.  And this book was almost entirely “Magnolia” stories.

Until the last one.  The Grieving Owl.   Here was a story with heart, and melancoly, and just a bit of humor.  By far my favorite story of them all.

I’m not sure if I’d actually recommend the book to anyone, because I honestly didn’t enjoy most of it, but if you are a Sedaris fan, you will likely enjoy it.

2 stars out of 5 ..:**