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List Price: $25.99Amazon.com's Price: $17.15 You Save: $8.84 (34%)as of 03/14/2010 19:37 EDT
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.54
EAN: 9780316143479
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 0316143472
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: June 03, 2008
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: June 03, 2008
Studio: Little, Brown and Company
Features:- ISBN13: 9780316143479
- Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
- Notes:
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Editorial Review:
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
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I disclose up front that I am a huge Sedaris fan. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" was one of the most acidly funny books I ever read, and his short story "The Santaland Diaries" is nothing less than a masterpiece. And, I do not expect Sedaris to be "funny." Much of his most elegant prose, especially about his family, is not. But I admit to being very disappointed in "When You Are Engulfed in Flames."
I cannot explain exactly why I was disappointed. It's not that the writing, overall, ... Read More
Rating:  -
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.
Rating: -
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 ... Read More
Rating: -
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 ... Read More
Rating: -
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".
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