This small volume perfectly underscores why you should not judge a book by its cover. There’s a cosy little illustration of a cute little squirrel having a drink with his chipmunk paramour over soft candlelight. But instead of cuddly animal tales with unambiguous moral platitudes, the stories within are as quirky and disturbing as anything David Sedaris has ever produced. Best known for his irreverent semi-autobiographical pieces where he gazes amusingly at his own navel when not picking at his family’s peccadilloes, Sedaris at his best, is very funny, often evincing a squirming reaction from his readers. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is more odd than amusing. The book’s subtitle is 'A Wicked Bestiary' and this better explains some of the anthropomorphic antics within. It opens with a tale about a gossipy baboon grooming a cat, who informs the feline that it hates dogs, because they lick their own asses, only to be informed by the affronted cat that it performs such an act itself at least five times a day. The baboon is left to contemplate the fine line between kissing and licking ass. The final story features an inquisitive owl and a “grease-blackened gerbil at the gaping back door of a hippopotamus”, the unfortunate hippo just happens to have parasitical leeches in its rectum. Distasteful? Very much so but those familiar with Sedaris’ work won’t be all that shocked. Elsewhere, a migrating warbler who spends winter in Central America, talks blithely about encountering a wall of human heads; a mouse and her snake companion’s relationship naturally and inevitably goes pear-shaped and a lab rat who thinks that negative thoughts bring on cancer is duly injected with the AIDS virus.

The illustrations, black-and-white, with splashes of red, are by the same person who does the Olivia pig picture books. But with sex, violence, infidelity and cruelty casually littering the pages, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is definitely not for children or for the easily-offended. This isn’t Sedaris’ best work, but should be regarded as an interesting offshoot, one for the fans but not necessarily for a newcomer to his oeuvre.

Thuy On is a freelance writer, reviewer and journalist.