When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Overview

Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him once more. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the water in a vase of fresh cut flowers to fill the coffee machine. From armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds to the awkwardness of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a sleeping fellow passenger on a plane, David Sedaris uses life's most bizarre moments to reach new heights in understanding love and fear, family and strangers. Culminating in a brilliantly funny account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection will be avidly anticipated.

Editorial Reviews

Sedaris, king of the poignantly absurd, triumphs in this sixth essay collection (after 2004's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim). There is less focus here on the Sedaris clan as a whole, though the various members make memorable and often hilarious appearances. In The Understudy, the Sedaris siblings band together to battle the odious babysitter Mrs. Peacock, while in Town and Country, Sedaris and sister Amy discuss what their father would be most offended to find on his daughter's coffee-table (hint: The Joy of Sex comes in a distant second). Leaving America behind, Sedaris also regales readers with his experiences around the globe, from sitting in a Parisian doctor's office wearing only his underwear in In the Waiting Room to warding off birds in the French countryside with record albums in Aerial. In the collection's longest essay, The Smoking Section, Sedaris recounts his three-month stay in Tokyo, where he successfully quits smoking and unsuccessfully attempts to learn Japanese. Sedaris records in Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie? his more glaring mistakes in life, but he should be satisfied with the knowledge that this latest endeavor is anything but. (June) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Information

Bio of David Sedaris

David Sedaris was born in Johnson City, New York; his father's job caused them to move to Raleigh, North Carolina where he grew up. David is the second of a family of six children, and is the sibling of actress Amy Sedaris. Attending such schools as Duke University and Kent State University, he finally graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1987. David has since settled in a small French village with his partner, Hugh Hamrick, and has become a critically acclaimed author of autobiographical books such as 'Santaland Diaries', 'Me Talk Pretty One Day', and 'Naked'. He is also a familiar voice on PRI's This American Life radio program.

Customer Reviews

• Laugh Out Loud

  Posted February 05, 2009 by Diginixy, Tucson AZ

  I wasn't very familiar with the author. Well not at all actually, but the excerpt of this book came with my Reader. I was looking for some new books to buy, so I gave the sample a shot. Before I even finished the 40 page teaser I had already downloaded the full version. The book consists of...I guess you can short little essays from the authors life. They are hilarious. I genuinely laugh out loud through each chapter. It's only 11 bucks, why not?

• Same Old Thing

  Posted February 06, 2009 by SWCB, Buenos Aires

  I normally really enjoy Sedaris' work, but, unfortunately, not much in this book is new. There are many recycled essays from magazines and also his other books (magazines I can understand, but other books??!) He is an entertaining and very funny writer and speaker, but I would love to see something original for a change. I feel like I got ripped off buying this book; I could have just re-read his previous books.

• Such a funny book

  Posted July 14, 2009 by Jacquie Hagen, Grandview MO

  He puts a perspective on everyday things that you never realized could be sooo funny.

• Hilarious!

  Posted August 10, 2009 by Yolanda, Manitoba, Canada

  I didn't know this author at all, but vaguely recalled reading a good review of this book, so I got it to read on a long plane trip. It was a little slow at the start, as I wasn't familiar with any of the characters or their relationships, but it wasn't long before I was laughing out loud!

Additional Info

Imprint

Little Brown & Company

Filesize

649.13 KB

Number of Pages

512

eBook ISBN

9780316032513