Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.54
EAN: 9780316143479
ISBN: 0316143472
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2008-06-03
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 2008-06-03
Studio: Little, Brown and Company

"David Sedaris's ability to transform the mortification of everyday life into wildly entertaining art," (The Christian Science Monitor) is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this remarkable new book.
Trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, David considers using the water in a vase of flowers and his chain of associations takes him from the French countryside to a hilariously uncomfortable memory of buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina. In essay after essay, Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life-having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane or armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds-to the most deeply resonant human truths. Culminating in a brilliant account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection is a new masterpiece of comic writing from "a writer worth treasuring" (Seattle Times).

Praise for When You Are Engulfed in Flames:

"Older, wiser, smarter and meaner, Sedaris...defies the odds once again by delivering an intelligent take on the banalities of an absurd life." --Kirkus Reviews

This latest collection proves that not only does Sedaris still have it, but he's also getting better....Sedaris's best stuff will still--after all this time--move, surprise, and entertain." --Booklist

Table of Contents:

It's Catching
Keeping Up
The Understudy
This Old House
Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie?
Road Trips
What I Learned
That's Amore
The Monster Mash
In the Waiting Room
Solutions to Saturday's Puzzle
Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Toadstool
Memento Mori
All the Beauty You Will Ever Need
Town and Country
Aerial
The Man in the Hut
Of Mice and Men
April in Paris
Crybaby
Old Faithful
The Smoking Section

Customer Rating:
Summary: better, actually
Comment: I liked Barrel Fever when it came out; I was lukewarm about Sedaris' subsequent books, but this one is really very funny and much more subtle. I might even say I like it the best.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: LOL
Comment: I was calling friends to read them excerpts from this book, only I was laughing so hard usually they couldn't understand me! I immediately bought tickets to Sedaris's next reading!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: when you are engulfed in flames
Comment: I used to like David Sedaris. "Me talk Pretty on Day" was lovely. "Naked" and "Dress Your Children..." were funny. But "When you are Engulfed in Flames" was disgusting. I started the book, got completely grossed out and then looked at others reviews. I won't be finishing it. I'm done with his disgusting imagery - worms hanging out of people's legs. I don't need thoughts like hanging around in my head. If I tought it would get better I'd give it another try but so many reviews here say it's a waste of time. I also let mey son read it before I started it. He read a few chapters and gave it back saying he didn't care for it, but didn't say why. Now I know - ick!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Fan
Comment: I have read all of David Sedaris' books and love them all. I really enjoyed Engulfed in Flames, but it didn't result in as many laugh out loud moments as have occurred from past books. While I always love the belly laughs, this book contains plenty of great material and is, at times, highly contemplative.

I am about the same age as Sedaris and have always enjoyed reading about his childhood, as I can relate. This makes reading all of his book especially enjoyable.

Sedaris does a wonderful job--as always--at telling stories. He is a master at descriptions and timing.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: My whole Book Club loves David Sedaris!
Comment: This is the second David Sedaris book that my Book Club has read and reveiwed, the first one being "Me Talk Pretty One Day". Both were a huge hit. David is hilarious and his writting is seriously laugh out loud funny. He has a unique perspective on life that is entertaining and at times enlightening. This book and author I would recommend to anyone, you won't be dissapointed!

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