cover image Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens

Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens

Sloane Tanen. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, $14.95 (80pp) ISBN 978-1-58234-376-1

Wee, bright yellow, plastic chicks complain about shopping, calories and boyfriends in this sassy volume by visual artist Tanen. The collection features full-page color photographs in which the author's tiny, beady-eyed chicks confront a hilarious selection of modern (and sometimes fantastical) situations. In one picture, for example, a chick expresses frustration over a crowded exercise class (""Maude was peeved. Her 3:30 yoga class was full again. Didn't anybody work in this town?""). In another, a princess chick stares at the frog sitting on her bed and decides to terminate their relationship (""Anastasia was through making out with Ian. He was never going to change."") The chicks are darling, and the dioramas in which Tanen places them are perfect. This satirical take on the trials and tribulations of the modern, urbane female is sure to please the very sort it gently teases.