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When You Are Engulfed in Flames

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

by David Sedaris (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2009

    $18.61

  • Used

    Paperback 2008

    $5.81
Synopsis

"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 CatchingKeeping UpThe UnderstudyThis Old HouseBuddy, Can You Spare a Tie?Road TripsWhat I LearnedThat's AmoreThe Monster MashIn the Waiting RoomSolutions to Saturday's PuzzleAdult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete ToadstoolMemento MoriAll the Beauty You Will Ever NeedTown and CountryAerialThe Man in the HutOf Mice and MenApril in ParisCrybabyOld FaithfulThe Smoking Section "

$18.61

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 336
 Edition: Reprint
 Publisher: Back Bay Books
Published: 02 Jun 2009
ISBN 10: 0316154687
ISBN 13: 9780316154680

Media Reviews
It's not just that Sedaris's crisp prose is humorous. What makes his work a consistent joy to read is his deliciously skewed vision of the world, and his deadpan delivery. --Christopher Muther, Boston Globe
The Sedaris genius is to be incredibly particular, not to mention peculiar, and yet take fantastic and rapid leaps to the universal. . . . He'll be telling some weird story, and all of a sudden, just at the end, it turns out not only to be about him, but also about you. He's a master at evoking fellow feeling. --Nancy Dalva, New York Observer
David Sedaris is horribly observant. He sees things as they are.... He'll be telling some weird story, and all of a sudden, just at the end, it turns out not only to be about him, but also about you. --Nancy Dalva, New York Observer
What makes Sedaris's work transcendent is its humanity: He adores some truly awful people, yet he invests them with dignity and even grace.... He's the best there is. --Judith Newman, People
Sedaris is certainly worthy of hero worship-he so breezily translates the landscape through his bent, prismatic view that he makes you forget what a skillful narrator he is. --Mark Washburn, Charlotte Observer
The preeminent humorist of his generation...His reluctant charm and talent for observing every inch of the human condition remain intact. --Whitney Pastorek, Entertainment Weekly
Author Bio
David Sedaris is the author of the books Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked, and Barrel Fever. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and Public Radio International's This American Life.