Breaking Stephan: A Pearls Before Swine Collection #[nn]

Stephan Pastis plants himself — literally, as a bewildered, underpants-clad caricature of himself — in a sun-scorched desert landscape straight out of a certain prestige TV drama, flanked by the beloved *Pearls Before Swine* gang in full hazmat-suit regalia. Rat and Pig stand ready in their yellow suits and gas masks, a wheelchair-bound Guard Duck lurks nearby, Goat holds a comic strip in the background beside a smoking RV marked "Santa Rosa or Bust," and the whole absurd scene is rendered with surprising visual polish. This 2014 collection from Andrews McMeel is the kind of thing that reminds you why *Pearls Before Swine* has earned such a devoted following — sharp, self-aware, and genuinely funny.