When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

By David Sedaris

  • Release Date: 2008-06-03
  • Genre: Humor
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 452 Ratings

Description

"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

Reviews

  • Another Great Book!

    5
    By ckopsa
    David Sedaris wins once again! He is a 'geniusly' hilarious writer!
  • Love it!!!

    5
    By my3lbka
    Touching, hilarious and is one of the few books I can retread without getting bored!
  • Solid book

    4
    By TampaJohn
    Good stuff. Funny but he always is. It's kind of two books; a collection of shorts and one much longer bit about his quitting smoking. Didn't love the smoking part, which is obviously unfortunate because its about a third of the book. It's basically his diary and it wears on you after a while. It's day twelve and still not smoking but you'd like to, we get it.
  • Another great one!

    5
    By Canejoda
    I love his writing. Every chapter ends flawlessly making a point that you never saw coming.
  • Great Book!

    5
    By deanjp92
    I didn't buy this book on itunes, but I did buy a physical copy of it at Borders! It's hilarious!
  • Fantastic!

    5
    By ChrisCatton
    David Sedaris is such a natural comic writer. This book is his best yet. Hilarious!
  • My fist David Sedaris Book, I will read the rest:-)

    5
    By GPLongwood
    I came across this book when it came out, but was just curious due to the cover. I never opened it. I wish I had so could have enjoyed this sooner. I came across it again on my Kindle and downloaded a sample and couldn't put it down. Now I have may iPad and just finished Me Talk Pretty One Day and am looking forward to the next. I just don't know which one yet. His style is easy and heavily comedic. I wish I could capture my life the way he has shared his, it would make me seem much more interesting. You will enjoy this.
  • I love this book

    5
    By CJS_mom
    I have read other books by Sedaris, but this one was the funniest. Everyone should read this. Well done!

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