When You Are Engulfed in Flames | David Sedaris

When You Are Engulfed in Flames | David Sedaris | I love this book

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When You Are Engul...

	When You Are Engulfed in Flames David Sedaris Little, Brown and Company, 2008 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 249 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

best one yet!

Sedaris keeps getting better! Crossword puzzle is the BEST chapter of his yet. Who doesn't need a good laugh?! Oh - the talent! genius.

I love this book

This book is really funny. I love Mr. Sedaris's humor. It's personal and honest. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading his other books.

Comedy at its finest

Now, while I have heard a number of good things about David Sedaris' books, I have never actually read one before. Despite this, I was pretty excited about reading 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames', and I was not disappointed. Sedaris' newest book is a very funny collection of essays about ordinary everyday events in his life, or at least ordinary for him. All the stories in his book feel almost intertwined, possibly because they all to build up to a realization, almost like lessons he learned over time. Whether it is his realization that country spiders don't survive well in the city, or Sedaris eventually learning what makes one of his neighbors tick, Sedaris is very good at building a story over time. He can look at a number of events at different times and places, and see how he came to a better understanding because of these seemingly unrelated events. He also tends to make the simplest things seem more fun and exciting, such as quitting smoking. Not many people would decide to temporarily move across the world just to quit smoking. I think, in the end, David Sedaris is just skilled at comedy and story-telling in general. After all, isn't comedy just making the mundane amusing?

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Always entertaining...

Every day, we're exposed to dozens of situations that we find funny, sad, ironic, thought provoking, etc. David Sedaris is one of the few people who makes note of such situations and then can turn them into best-selling books. His latest, When You Are Engulfed in Flames successfully follows his usual format.

As with most of his books, Sedaris scatters his stories between his childhood, his young adulthood, and the present. There are stories about his childhood home, one of his first apartments, trying to make friends with a spider, fighting with people on airplanes, and trying to scare away birds with the faces on LP covers. But much of this book is about smoking (The Smoking Section). For anyone who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s where almost everyone smoked anywhere they liked, this will take you down memory lane. Only Sedaris can find the irony in our attitudes about cigarettes. "It seems crazy to cut smoking mothers out of textbooks, but within a few years they won't be allowed in movies either. A woman can throw her newborn child from the roof of a high-rise building. She can then retrieve the body and stomp it while shooting into the windows of a day care center, but to celebrate these murders by lighting a cigarette is to send a harmful message." Also, "It's safe to assume that by 2025, guns will be sold in vending machines, but you won't be able to smoke anywhere in America." He's got a point! He also details (in humorous fashion) his battle to quit smoking.

I always look forward to Sedaris when I need a book that is entertaining. Also, when Sedaris pokes fun at himself (which he often does), I can often identify with his experiences. He has become one of those authors whose books I automatically read when they are published.

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3.5/5 Stars

Well, I guess I've been on a bit of a David Sedaris kick lately, as I just finished Holidays on Ice, and now When You are Engulfed In Flames. This time I listened to the audio book read by the author.

If you have never read or listened to Sedaris before, you are missing out big-time. His witty sarcasm, as he tells a variety of stories about his family, his neighbors, his attempts to quit smoking, flying on a plane and so many more were just quite funny. He is an amazing writer who is able to convey stories about life with humor. I do have to admit some of the stories in this compilation left me a bit flat. My favorite Sedaris audio collection is still: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

Okay I have had enough of David S's writing for a while, so I'm off to more serious stuff.

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