Pearls Before Swine is Pastis’s hilarious comic strip tale of two friends: arrogant, egotistical, “hound dog” Rat, and slow-witted, painfully naïve “teddy bear” Pig. Along with Zebra, the “jailhouse rock” activist; Goat, the “treat me nice” reluctant brain; and the “heartbreak hotel” carnivorous Crocs, Pearls delightfully mocks the flaws and shortcomings of human nature.