Pretty Ugly

David Sedaris is not for everybody, and his picture-book debut, a collaboration with the late Olivia author, Ian Falconer, won't be either. Sedaris takes a familiar story—readers might be reminded of Russell Hoban's wonderful Little Brute Family—and turns it, literally, inside-out. Some readers (and some grown-ups) will likely be disturbed; others might find the wicked horror and odd sweetness just suited to their taste.