In a bid to distract customers from its ongoing pork shortage, burrito empire Chipotle is rolling out the second wave of its “Cultivating Thought” short story series, with Aziz Ansari, Neil Gaiman, and Augusten Burroughs among those set to contribute short stories to adorn beverage cups. The second series will also feature stories from Walter Isaacson, Amy Tan, Paulo Coelho, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Barbara Kingsolver, Julia Alverez and Jeffrey Eugenides.
The Hollywood Reporter showcased Ansari’s story, “Two Minutes About My Toothbrush,” which is pretty much what it sounds like, with Ansari describing the painstaking research he undertook to find the best broom for his gums. Between its lean, muscular language and its insightful take on a common quandary, “Toothbrush” will make tough competition when it’s time to award the Pulitzer Prize for Fast-Casual Fiction, but watch out for Eugenides as the dark horse.
Chipotle launched Cultivating Thought last year, tapping Jonathan Safran Foer to curate and edit whimsical, pithy stories from such literary luminaries as Toni Morrison and Malcolm Gladwell. There will be no Cultivating Thought from Frank Ocean, whose submission to Chipotle fell far short of its length requirements.