|
When You Are Engulfed in Flames |  | Author: David Sedaris
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy Used: $0.97
as of 3/10/2010 15:59 CST details
You Save: $25.02 (96%)
New (82) Used (210) Collectible (29) from $0.97
Seller: _athenaeum_
Rating:  362 reviews
Sales Rank: 21377
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0316143472
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.54
EAN: 9780316143479
ASIN: 0316143472
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780316143479 | | • | Condition: USED - VERY GOOD | | • | Notes: |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product 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
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 362
 not even a chuckle March 9, 2010
P. Wilson (Northeast Ohio)
I had high expectations going into this book based on all the hype. This book is, no question, the worst book I have ever read. I did not laugh once, not even a chuckle. This life situations this dude tackles are not funny. I had a big boil, my queen lances it, the fluid inside smells. Are you serious?? That's just gnarly, not humorous. Don't waste your time or money on this set of booooooring stories.
 quirky and fun for a sedaris newbie March 5, 2010
lisa shea (honolulu, hi)
this was my first Sedaris book and although not totally blown away, it was definitely entertaining and good fun. i listened to the audio version, which is narrated by Sedaris himself and although this is not an old book (pub. 2008), the dry sarcasm and tone of his voice was reminiscent of an older style of stand up comedy.
the book is written in short stories of various happenings in Sedaris's life, including babysitting experiences of his younger days, what it what like going public about being gay, his crazy neighbors (which i can completely relate to!) and a more recent effort to quit smoking. there were definite highs and lows in the stories, with some absolutely hysterical laugh out loud moments in between. some stories held my interest more than others, notably That's Amore and The Smoking Section, but regardless, it was worth the time spent and i would probably pick up another Sedaris book someday.
Sedaris is still funny, just not as hilarious as his other books... March 1, 2010
Larry Hoffer (Fairfax, VA)
I'm a big David Sedaris fan, but I didn't love this book as much as some of the others. When I read "Barrel Fever" and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. In this book, there were a few stories that made me laugh out loud, but mostly I smiled or chuckled. Not a bad track record, of course, but just not as uproariously funny as others. My favorite stories were those that chronicled his interactions with other people--the one with him fighting with the woman who sat next to him on the plane (I did laugh out loud during this one); the story of Helen, who lived in the same apartment building he and Hugh did; the horrible babysitter, Mrs. Peacock; and the final story, which chronicled his attempt to quit smoking while living in Japan. Those new to David Sedaris, I would recommend you start with a different book so you truly appreciate his amazing sense of humor.
I liked it less than his other works... February 9, 2010
M. Cunningham (Maryland, USA)
I love David Sedaris, but this book felt darker and less funny to me. Plus, there were uncomfortable sexual undertones that made it sound much more like a regular autobiography instead of one that was supposed to evoke a comedic reaction... Overall, I just really didn't enjoy it nearly as much as, say, "Me Talk Pretty One Day" or "Naked".
First experience with David Sedaris... should I look for more? January 31, 2010
Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI & Logan, UT USA)
This was my first David Sedaris book, I know I've read at least one other article, and I may have read others (but I never paid attention to who the author was). I've read, and heard, that I needed to read some of his other works. The uniqueness of the cover art on his many books makes it easy to remember that his books are all around the bookstores.
So I gave it a try with When You Are Engulfed in Flames.
I enjoyed it, and was surprised later to read that many loyal fans considered this collection of essays a let-down. In particular, I liked his long treatise on his efforts to give up smoking during a long visit to Japan:
[In regards to depictions of smoking in high school textbooks,] Sedaris wrote, "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 on 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. There are, after all, young people watching, and we wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea" (p. 250-251). Ouch!
But there's a humor there as well that can't help but make you chuckle: "I peeled away my [nicotine] patch last night and was disgusted by the cruddy shadow it left. It feels like I've been wearing a bumper sticker, so instead of replacing the one I took off, I think I'll just go without and see what happens. As for my three hundred dollars' worth of lozenges, I still haven't opened them, and don't think I'm going to. What I've been doing instead is rolling index cards into little tubes. I put one in my mouth when I sit down to write, and then I slowly chew it to a paste and swallow it. I'm now up to six a day and am wondering if I should switch to a lighter, unlined brand" (p. 276). I'm chuckling even as I type this!
There's enough here that I want more. Time to look for one of those distinctive covers!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 362
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
