When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris
List Price:
Our Price: $3.24
You Save: $22.75 (88%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David SedarisEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-03
ISBN: 0316143472
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
Book Review: Made me a fan of the author
Summary: 5 Stars
I had never read anything by David Sedaris until a student
mentioned his latest book, WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN
FLAMES . . . she said it had been a big help to her when she
quit smoking . . . so because of my interest in that topic, I
immediately went out and got a copy--and am glad that I did.
Sedaris is an American humorist, author and radio contributor . . . he
has written several bestsellers, all of which have been collections
of his essays.
WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED concludes with a longish piece
about the author's attempts to quit smoking . . . that was what
I read first and doing so enabled me to develop a better understanding
of the smoker's mentality . . . in particular, this passage caught my
attention:
* When I look back on my many years of smoking, the only real regret
I have is all the litter I generated, all those hundreds of thousands
of butts crushed underfoot. I was always outraged when a driver
would empty his ashtray onto the asphalt. "What a pig!" I'd think. But
he only did in bulk what I did piecemeal. In a city you tell yourself
that someone will clean it up, someone who wouldn't have a job
unless you dropped that butt onto the sidewalk. In that respect
you're good, you're helping. Then too, it never felt like real litter,
like tossing down, say, a broken lightbulb. No one was going
to cut his foot on a cigarette butt, and because of its earthy
color it pretty much disappeared into the landscape, the way a
peanut shell might. This made it "organic" or "biodegradable" --one
of those words that meant "all right."
That made me think about why others never realized this fact . . . but then
again, maybe they will after reading this book.
Other parts had me laughing, such as when he talked about fashion:
* In 1976 my glasses were so big I could clean the lenses with
a squeegee. Not only were they huge, they were also green
with Playboy emblems embossed on the stems. Today these frames
sound ridiculous, but back then they were actually quite stylish. Time
is cruel to everything but seems to have singled out eyeglasses
for special punishment. What looks good now is guaranteed to embarrass
you twenty years down the line, which is, of course, the whole problem
with fashion. Though design may reach an apex, it never settles back
and calls it quits. Rather, it just keeps reaching, attempting to satisfy
our insatiable need to buy new stuff. Squinting is timeless, but so,
unfortunately, are the blinding headaches that often accompany it.
And then there was this observation that put a smile on my face:
* That's Business Elite for you. Spend eight thousand dollars on a ticket,
and if you want an extra thirteen cents' worth of ice cream, all you have
to do is ask. It's like buying a golf cart and having a few tees thrown in,
but still it works, "Golly," I say. "Thanks!"
As a result of reading WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED, I've become a
David Sedaris fan . . . I now look forward to reading future books by
him, but in the meantime, I plan to go back and read some of his
earlier stuff.
Summary of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
"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
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
Crybaby
The Smoking Section
Humor Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Humor Books
Snuffby Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Don't Eat This Bookby Morgan Spurlock
Penguin Audio; Published: 2005-05-19; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hellby Tucker Max
Penguin; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
The Saber-Tooth Curriculumby J.Abner Peddiwell
Mcgraw-Hill; Published: 1959-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Miss Americaby Howard Stern
It Books; Published: 2010-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.71
Price in other shops:
101 Places Not to See Before You Dieby Catherine Price
Harper Perennial; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
My Life and Hard Times (Perennial Classics)by James Thurber
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 1999-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
Equal Rites: A Discworld Novel (Discworld Novels)by Terry Pratchett
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops:
Mirth of a Nation: Audio Companion, Fellow Traveler and Friend for Life--Laff Tracks From America's Most Trusted Humor Anthologyby Michael J. Rosen
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-11-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $4.51
Price in other shops:
Red, White & Liberalby Alan Colmes
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-10-28; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Children Playing Before a Statue of HerculesSimon & Schuster; Published: 2005-03-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.14
Price in other shops:
Barrel Fever: Stories and Essaysby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 1995-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiaryby David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2010-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Holidays on Iceby David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-10-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
Nakedby David Sedaris
Little, Brown & Company; Published: 1997-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denimby David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2004-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.92
Price in other shops:
Me Talk Pretty One Dayby David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2000-05-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denimby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2005-05-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
Nakedby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 1998-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Me Talk Pretty One Dayby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2001-06-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops: