''Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary'' (titled ''Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Wicked Bestiary'' outside the United States) is a collection of animal-themed humorous short stories by memoirist and humorist

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries.” He published his first c ...

. The collection was published in September 2010. Sedaris did not give the animals names, using only such names as 'chipmunk' and 'squirrel.' Animals, he said, don't need description. Sedaris said in an October 2010 interview with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', "If I wrote, 'Phillip and Amanda had been dating for two weeks when they ran out of things to talk about', I would have to give you a whole description. But, everyone knows what a squirrel and a chipmunk look like. So, I wrote it as, 'The squirrel and the chipmunk had been dating for two weeks when they ran out of things to talk about.'" Sedaris was inspired after reading a book of stories from South African mythology about anthropomorphic animals. Believing he could do better with a modern twist, he wrote 25 stories over two years, with the aim to ensure a high quality book by cutting ten of the 25.

Stories

Sedaris says that title character of "The Vigilant Rabbit" is based on an elderly TSA official who demanded that he remove his vest. At least six of the stories have been read on ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'' (a US radio program to which Sedaris has been a frequent contributor): "The Cat and the Baboon," a

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that illustrat ...

about gossip and the service industry; "The Cow and the Turkey," in which barnyard animals play

Secret Santa Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift giver is to remain a secret and should not be revealed. Deriving from the ...

; "The Squirrel and the Chipmunk," a fable about a squirrel, a chipmunk, and a love that could never be; "Hello Kitty," in which predators and prey meet in an Alcoholics Anonymous program in prison; "The Parrot and the Potbellied Pig," about finding happiness in spite of the others' expectations; and "The Sick Rat and the Healthy Rat," about the relationship between positive thinking and physical health.
This American Life °415, "Crybabies," 9/24/2010.

References

{{David Sedaris 2010 non-fiction books American essays Works by David Sedaris Little, Brown and Company books Fables