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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
When You Are Engulfed in Flames | 
 enlarge | Author: David Sedaris
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $17.15
You Save: $8.84 (34%)
New (3) Used (1) from $17.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  272 reviews
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0316024597
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.54
EAN: 9780316024594
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
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Product Description
"David Sedaris's ability to transform the mortification of everyday life into wildly entertaining art," (IThe Christian Science Monitor/I) is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this remarkable new book. BRTrying 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 st1:place w:st="on"st1:State w:st="on"North Carolina/st1:State/st1:place. 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 st1:place w:st="on"st1:City w:st="on"Tokyo/st1:City/st1:place in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection is a new masterpiece of comic writing from "a writer worth treasuring" (ISeattle Times/I). BRBRSTRONGPraise for EMWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames/EM:/STRONGBRBR"Older, wiser, smarter and meaner, Sedaris...defies the odds once again by delivering an intelligent take on the banalities of an absurd life." --IKirkus Reviews/IBRBRThis 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." --IBooklist/IBRBRSTRONGTable of Contents:BR/STRONGBRIt's CatchingBRKeeping UpBRThe UnderstudyBRThis Old HouseBRBuddy, Can You Spare a Tie?BRRoad TripsBRWhat I LearnedBRThat's AmoreBRThe Monster MashBRIn the Waiting RoomBRSolutions to Saturday's PuzzleBRAdult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete ToadstoolBRMemento MoriBRAll the Beauty You Will Ever NeedBRTown and CountryBRAerialBRThe Man in the HutBROf Mice and MenBRApril in st1:City w:st="on"st1:place w:st="on"Paris/st1:place/st1:CityBRCrybabyBRst1:place w:st="on"Old Faithful/st1:placeBRThe Smoking SectionBRBRBRBR
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| Customer Reviews: Read 267 more reviews...
 Quirky, original, true June 9, 2008
147 out of 161 found this review helpful
Reading a David Sedaris short story is like watching the author think. Each one is told as a stream of consciousness that somehow ties together beautifully in the end. This collection includes some laugh-out-loud essays, and others that are touching and poignant. All are interesting and so original they are obviously taken from real life. br /br /If you're not familiar with him, Sedaris is the Dave Barry of the National Public Radio set. I've been a Sedaris fan for a long time through NPR's "This American Life." This book is like a collection of the best of those quirky radio essays. (I also have the audio CD set, a 9-hour, 8-disc marathon that plays like an NPR fundraising marathon without those annoying pleas for cash.)br /br /The stories are filled with memorable characters. Irritated Becky, who sits next to Sedaris on a plane flight and inspires incorrect answers in Solution to Saturday's Puzzle. Gravel-voiced Helen, who lives next door to Sedaris and is the unlikely heroine of That's Amore. Sedaris' sister Amy, the owner of a magazine called New Animal Orgy in Town and Country. Woven throughout the essays is the fast-walking Hugh, Sedaris boyfriend, who demonstrates true love by lancing a boil in Old Faithful.br /br /Not all the essays are mass appeal (my husband, who is not a big NPR listener, hated the first one but loved the third) but I think there's plenty of good stuff in here to please just about any thoughtful adult reader. There is plenty of sex and language, however, so it's not for your pre-teen or Aunt Betsy. But for most anyone else who wants a good laugh, it's a must-read.
Everyone but my mom should read this book! June 5, 2008
72 out of 80 found this review helpful
I have been waiting for a new David Sedaris book for a long time. I read the entire book yesterday afternoon and I could not stop laughing. His descriptions, dialogue, and demented details are uniquely Sedaris. This book did not disappoint; I knew what I was getting into the moment I read through the table of contents. Some critics are saying that there is nothing new here, blah, blah, blah. What do they want from a David Sedaris book? Romance? Epic Adventure? YA Fiction? I am a huge fan of Mr. Sedaris (David, not Lou), and his essays on his life leave me laughing. The section on smoking was not only funny, but very truthful. I could taste the menthol while reading. Very descriptive-very hilarious! Thank you David Sedaris.
Sedaris - Equal and opposite of Chicken Soup June 30, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I was introduced to David Sedaris when a relative of mine was in a coma for 5 months. I was told that someone was coming to the hospital, sitting beside the bed and reading from the "Chicken Soup" series of books. I was horrified as I'd been told that a person in a coma can still hear and I couldn't fathom the torture my loved one must be in - unable to move or communicate and being subjected to a torture akin to mental water boarding. Immediately I put the word out for some other essay series that could be read to him that would nullify the damage being done by this well intentioned person. David Sedaris was suggested several times and this is how I met him (literarily speaking).br /I have "Engulfed" in the audio version that's read by the author. My favorites from Sedaris are always when he relates tales about his boyhood and goofy family. There's plenty to be found here. In this compilation I found the new bike essay interesting, the crotchety lady neighbor hilarious, but the whole smoking cessation portion was so close to home that it was a bit unnerving. He went to Japan, I went to Mexico. It worked for him, not for me...br /I highly recomend this book - you can never go wrong with Sedaris (even if your in a coma)...bg
Very entertaining August 11, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was witty and entertaining and also infused with some interesting and important life lessons. This was my first Sedaris book and I'm excited to read the rest. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something interesting and funny to read.
It's Worth Your Time August 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sedaris' latest, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, is funny, tender, honest, sobering, introspective, heartwarming, lovely, entertaining, and absolutely hysterical. Either you'll love him or you just won't get him, in which case you're probably better off with that copy of the Physician's Desk Reference you found in the dumpster behind your chiropractor's office.
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