I continue to be impressed with the breadth of Sedaris' writing. There are touching stories from early childhood that anyone who grew up with siblings will find familiar and hilarious. Those are mixed in good measure with depressing tales of addiction, and uncomfortable narratives related to homosexuality and sex. The combination works, and I enjoyed nearly all of it, even the parts that made me a bit uncomfortable.

Me Talk Pretty and his Courderoy books were far superior. Engulfed had me wondering if he is on a downward spiral.

I just love David Sedaris, plain and simple. Also, because I bought this book the book store owner said I had good taste and let me have half off on my purchases for the day.

Laugh at yourself and the whole world laughs with you. It's hard to write humorous essays that stand the test of time. Will Rogers realized that and just read the newspaper to audiences while adding an occasionally wry quip to get huge laughs. Put those messages into a book, and they wouldn't have lasted.

I haven't heard David Sedaris perform in person (which he does as readings), but I'm told he's marvelous. If you have had that pleasure, you will undoubtedly hear his voice, know his timing, and see his expressions as you read this witty, self-deprecating book. I suspect that such an imagined performance would easily turn this into a five-star book.

Proust waxed poetic about his memories of a madeleine (a shell-shaped cake in the France of his youth) in stream of consciousness prose. Sedaris does the same thing for a painful boil on his derriere, his horrible inability to learn new languages, and his desire to show a little more plumpness in his derriere. The results are equally memorable . . . but much more amusing in the case of Sedaris.

Sedaris likes to put together mosaics of seemingly unconnected memories that when combined show a different image and send a different message. It's a little like a Chuck Close portrait.

Like the best humorists, he takes us into her personal life . . . into the kinds of details that few of us would openly share with the public. In exchange for yielding his privacy, he helps us see ourselves in his experiences. Who hasn't struggled with a foreign language with embarrassing consequences? Who hasn't wanted to be a little more in some aspect of their lives? Who hasn't had trouble getting rid of a bad habit?

These themes and more are explored in well-written, interesting style that lacks only an overriding sense of meaning (other than that we are all a mess) to be important prose. Some of them are hilarious, breaking into images of burlesque skits in your mind. Others are more poignant than funny, using wry humor. But he mostly doesn't stretch; rather, he expresses who he is and how he sees life.

As a former smoker, former heavy drinker, former drug user, and current homosexual with a fascination for feeding spiders, some aspect of his life will intersect with yours. But at the same time, he has exotic tastes (spending a lot of time in Normandy, learning not to smoke in Tokyo, and traveling from city to city reading his essays while staying at the finest hotels) that will make his lens different than yours. You'll never see the world the same way, as Proust changed our perceptions of madeleines.

Is it worth the trip? Yes, but I advise small reading doses. It goes down more smoothly that way.

Once again, Sedaris manages to plumb the depths of his adolescence and later life to turn the minutiae and absurdity of life into comedic genius. It's not as good as some of his earlier stuff, but you'll still walk away happy you read it.

David Sedaris is without a doubt the most talented essayist in the country and the fact that he's also the most famous is not so much a validation of American taste as it is a validation of the Gevalia Kaffe/Sunday New York Times/All Things Considered/This American Life Podcast crowd. Good job! They're good at picking humorists and squeezing African-Americans out of Harlem.

Personally I prefer to read Sedaris than listen to audio tapes. His voice, I think, actual detracts from the situations. As in previous books When You Are Engulfed in Flames creates unbelievable, and in some instances unsympathetic, situations but Sedaris performs the literary magic trick of bringing you along for the ride. His voice, however, is so specific that it detaches me from the opiatic experience of walking in this talented man's shoes.

Also, as with previous essays, I believe he's at least 70% full of crap. But who cares? It's amusing crap.

I am familiar with several David Sedaris' works and I enjoy his occasional New York column. Most of which are extremely enjoyable to read (I didn't care for Barrel Fever). This book contains many short stories from David's life, written in a very relatable and humorous manner. David's works are some of the easiest reads I've ever encountered, and his candor is really disarming. Reading his stories makes me feel like I know his family personally, and the writing all the more endearing because of it.

Anybody who has ever thought their family was strange should read this book. People who can appreciate the minor quirks in ourselves and others will appreciate this book. Folks who enjoy a series of funny stories that will have you eagerly flipping the pages as you cackle with delight should buy this book.

David is in top form again for this collection of comic essays. Not his best, but still very good!

As always, Sedaris delivers. This book is hilarious in its oddities while simultaneously sparking something in you that says, "That's totally happened to me." Sedaris finds a way to take the mundane and make it laugh out loud funny. His quirky personality makes him just the right amount of crazy to keep us on his side and completely "engulfed" in his stories.

This book will not disappoint. And if it does... you might want to get your head checked.

As always, Sedaris delivers. This book is hilarious in its oddities while simultaneously sparking something in you that says, "That's totally happened to me." Sedaris finds a way to take the mundane and make it laugh out loud funny. His quirky personality makes him just the right amount of crazy to keep us on his side and completely "engulfed" in his stories.

This book will not disappoint. And if it does... you might want to get your head checked.

Boring, dreadful, there is nothing good I can say about this book. I find reading law school textbooks much more interesting then this author's work.

'When You are Engulfed in Flames' is one of several collections of true autobiographical stories by David Sedaris. They are funny, mostly in a whimsical versus hilarious sort of way. Some are fairly lame, almost boring. But overall the book is a very fast, breezy read that puts a smile on your face.


Bottom line: perhaps not as good or as funny as his earlier works, nonetheless 'When You are Engulfed in Flames' is a sure way to cure the blues, .. at least temporarily.

Pure Sedaris humor, thus good. Yet this collection stands head and shoulders above other titles. Finally his partner Hugh plays a role in almost all stories, so this time we not only read about Sedaris' family but he also writes on the subject of homosexuality and his love for Hugh. And then there is the best Sedaris story that I know so far: "That's amore", about this shrewd, shrewd neighbor woman.

Now, while I have heard a number of good things about David Sedaris' books, I have never actually read one before. Despite this, I was pretty excited about reading 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames', and I was not disappointed. Sedaris' newest book is a very funny collection of essays about ordinary everyday events in his life, or at least ordinary for him. All the stories in his book feel almost intertwined, possibly because they all to build up to a realization, almost like lessons he learned over time. Whether it is his realization that country spiders don't survive well in the city, or Sedaris eventually learning what makes one of his neighbors tick, Sedaris is very good at building a story over time. He can look at a number of events at different times and places, and see how he came to a better understanding because of these seemingly unrelated events. He also tends to make the simplest things seem more fun and exciting, such as quitting smoking. Not many people would decide to temporarily move across the world just to quit smoking. I think, in the end, David Sedaris is just skilled at comedy and story-telling in general. After all, isn't comedy just making the mundane amusing?

Well, I guess I've been on a bit of a David Sedaris kick lately, as I just finished Holidays on Ice, and now When You are Engulfed In Flames. This time I listened to the audio book read by the author.

If you have never read or listened to Sedaris before, you are missing out big-time. His witty sarcasm, as he tells a variety of stories about his family, his neighbors, his attempts to quit smoking, flying on a plane and so many more were just quite funny. He is an amazing writer who is able to convey stories about life with humor. I do have to admit some of the stories in this compilation left me a bit flat. My favorite Sedaris audio collection is still: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

Okay I have had enough of David S's writing for a while, so I'm off to more serious stuff.

This book is really funny. I love Mr. Sedaris's humor. It's personal and honest. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading his other books.

Every day, we're exposed to dozens of situations that we find funny, sad, ironic, thought provoking, etc. David Sedaris is one of the few people who makes note of such situations and then can turn them into best-selling books. His latest, When You Are Engulfed in Flames successfully follows his usual format.

As with most of his books, Sedaris scatters his stories between his childhood, his young adulthood, and the present. There are stories about his childhood home, one of his first apartments, trying to make friends with a spider, fighting with people on airplanes, and trying to scare away birds with the faces on LP covers. But much of this book is about smoking (The Smoking Section). For anyone who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s where almost everyone smoked anywhere they liked, this will take you down memory lane. Only Sedaris can find the irony in our attitudes about cigarettes. "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 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." Also, "It's safe to assume that by 2025, guns will be sold in vending machines, but you won't be able to smoke anywhere in America." He's got a point! He also details (in humorous fashion) his battle to quit smoking.

I always look forward to Sedaris when I need a book that is entertaining. Also, when Sedaris pokes fun at himself (which he often does), I can often identify with his experiences. He has become one of those authors whose books I automatically read when they are published.

Sedaris keeps getting better! Crossword puzzle is the BEST chapter of his yet. Who doesn't need a good laugh?! Oh - the talent! genius.

Being a ardent Sedaris fan, I was prepared to be delighted by Sedaris' latest book "When You're Engulfed in Flames"; I was expecting a satirical feat, a notable achievement as is his usual custom. What I got was a litany of aches, pains, ailments, and hypochondria of an aging man, getting older and sicker by the turning of every page, listing his illnesses, some real, some [perhaps] imaginary, from coughs, to cysts and boils, to gingivitis leading to gum surgery. This book was a major disappointment; it's definitely not a buy, may be a library check-out. Sorry David!

"When You Are Engulfed in Flames" is David Sedaris' fifth full-length collection of humorous essays. I've long been a fan of his writing, which for the uninitiated tends to focus on the more skewed aspects of his family and life. His collections usually include a variety of stories from various epochs of his life - as a child and teenager with his hilarious family, in his twenties (when he did drugs and had a variety of bizarre jobs), and with his boyfriend, Hugh, in Europe.

Most of my favorite stories involve his family, especially stories from his youth. He adds one such gem here - "The Understudy," which features one of the worst babysitters in history, the corpulent and itchy, Mrs. Peacock. This story has more laugh-out-loud moments than anything I've read since....well since Sedaris' last book. I tend to enjoy less his essays about his years when he was an active drug user, although "All the Beauty You Will Ever Need" is one of the better of this genre.

Alas, this collection is a bit thin on stories about his family; perhaps as he gets older he will focus more on recent events filtered through his observational humor style; "Crybaby" is a good example from this collection. The longest section of the book details his attempt to stop smoking in Tokyo, which is not the strongest ending to this otherwise solid collection. Overall, "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" is average work for Sedaris; not as good "Naked" but still likely to keep his fans entertained and better than most humor essayists.

I laughed. Out loud. On an airplane reading this book. BTW... Also check out the interview he did with Jon Stewart about it. Hysterical.

This was a nice read--but, a little different from other David Sedaris books...not in a bad way. This book is about David's adult life...

Cleetus: My appologies in advance to the late David Sedaris for what I have to say about his book.

Bo: I know what you mean, brother. It's never kind to tarnish the good name of the dead.

Cleetus: Poor fellah, if only he had the horse sense to duck and roll, he'da put out those flames quicker and saved himself a heap of problems.

Bo: That's the trouble with today's younguns. Whenever their on fire, they just don't know whut to do. Jest jump in the rainbarrel, for Pete's sake! That's whut I always do.

Cleetus: Now, about this here book ... Any fellah who's not got enough horse sense to roll in the dirt when he's on fire shurly has not got enough smarts to write a whole book. That's why I didn't get past the front cover.

Bo: You're right about that, brother. I jest don't think this was the book for us.

Cleetus: Nope.

Bo: But we still give it five stars out of five stars in this here review ... hey, why not. We're swell fellahs.

Cleetus: Git yer copy today, guys of America ... in memorium.

I really was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. A few times, I laughed aloud- quite unusual for me if I am alone reading. Honestly, I was sorry when I finished the book-

After seeing some of the reviews on Amazon, I'm wondering if I even read the same book as everyone else. Everyone touts David Sedaris as this great comedic writer, and raves that his stream-of-consciousness short stories are hilarious or poignant by turns. There was the odd humorous moment here and there, but I can't say I found this book "laugh-out-loud funny" at all. Mostly I found it to be a lot of pointless rambling in a person's mind...which is probably fairly realistic, but not particularly interesting to me. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the short story style of writing.

to those of you reviewing this book and other David Sedaris books, please don't assume as some of you have noted, that your older Aunt, mother or grandmother shouldn't read this for fear of being shocked. Come on now, getting older does not mean one's sense of humor is diminished.
The book is funny, as are all his books and yes even us old women get it!

David Sedaris is a writer who appreciates the finer things in life. The finer things we either ignore or simply don't see on a day-to-day basis. Throw in a dripping glob of neuroses and an erudite air of resignation and you too can arrive at the astute observations he so dutifully illustrates in his latest book, When You are Engulfed in Flames.

I think of Sedaris as an unconventional connoisseur of sorts. From sweat angels to the acumen of easily procuring dishwashing jobs, Stadium Pals, flaming mice, husbandry for spiders named "Big Chief Tommy", confronting airplane irritants, and finally to "finishing" smoking while learning Japanese, his musings evoke a nostalgia for times and things past never yet experienced.

This particular collection of essays centers around movement. Specifically regarding travel, Sedaris shares his experiences either en route to or upon arrival of the multitude of destinations to which he's traveled, some foreign, some domestic, all bizarre. Whether it be Japan, Thailand, France, the West Coast, Chicago, North Carolina, New York or wherever-have-you, his stories are ironic in that they all focus not on his destination, but rather the inner processing of his immediate surroundings, most notably his melancholy paranoia and courageous cynicism. It's more about the people he meets and his subsequent detachment from the normal workings of the world, not just the places he visits. It is the journey apparently, not the destination that matters. Sedaris' latest book is sublimely resigned, a comforting read for when the good times are indeed literally killing you.

I have to say I can't see what all the fuss was about with this book. It is barely entertaining. A bit insipid. Pleasant for a little while, like a tepid bath, but then you want to get out of it.

I have found that if I wouldn't want the author of a book of essays as a dinner guest, I won't like the book. The author of this comes across as shallow, superficial, and whiny - not your ideal dinner guest. Saying negative things about yourself is only funny if the audience DOESN'T believe its true. I admit I only got about 1/3 of the way through this book; it just didn't seem likely to improve THAT much in last 2/3.

I would instead recommend "What on Earth Have I Done?: Stories, Observations, and Affirmations" by Robert Fulghum as a much more positive and enjoyable book.

Normally I love David Sedaris and can't wait for his books to come out, but this one was a disappointment. It's very dark and moody and it took me forever to finish it. Not his best work.

David Sedaris
Little Brown and Co., 2008
ISBN: 9780316143479
3 Stars
Not my style...
David Sedaris style is understated humor. When Your Are Engulfed In Flames is a collection of his short stories and essays. I have not read any of Mr. Sedaris' previous books. I did find a few humorous moments, but nothing that made me laugh aloud or even brought a little chuckle. However, that does not make Sedaris a bad writer; it makes his style not my style.

I liked this book. It was funny & clever, especially the author's struggle to quit smoking. I suggest you also buy the author's best work, "Naked".

I did enjoy most of the essays. Some of my favorites involved a bad babysitter who fools the adults, but not the kids (the Understudy); a raspy-voiced next door neighbor named Helen (That's Amore); an annoyed wife on an airplane flight (Solution to Saturdays Puzzle); and an invented talking skeleton (Memento Mori); to name just a few.

To any fan of David Sedaris' essays this is a treat. It is so nice to have them available in one place.

Older, wiser, smarter and meaner, Sedaris (Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, 2004, etc.) defies the odds once again by delivering an intelligent take on the banalities of an absurd life. The author's faithful fans probably won't be turned off by his copyright-page admission that these pieces, most seen before in the New Yorker, are only "realish." They feel real, whether Sedaris is revealing his troubling obsession with a certain species of spider or describing a lift from a tow-truck driver who kept saying things like, "yes, indeedy, a little oral give-and-take would feel pretty good right about now"-the ring of truth adds to the book's horrified-laughter factor. The author still draws from the well of familial tragicomedy in pieces that dissect his parents' taste in modern art ("Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Toadstool") and their reactions to what he wrote about them in his first book ("fifty pages later, they were boarding up the door and looking for ways to disguise themselves"). Most of the essays, however, chronicle expatriate life in England, France and Japan with his long-suffering and improbably talented boyfriend Hugh. Sedaris positions himself as a hapless Bertie Wooster to Hugh's Jeeves, lazily allowing his partner's mother to clean their apartment ("I just sit in a rocker, raising my feet every now and then so she can pass the vacuum") and marveling at Hugh's interest in, well, doing things. A highpoint is "All the Beauty You Will Ever Need," which starts as a rant about his boyfriend's ludicrous self-sufficiency ("Hugh beats underpants against river rocks or decides that it might be fun to grind his own flour") but twists into a sharp declaration of lovethat's all the more touching for its lack of sentimentality. Just when Sedaris seems to have disappeared down the rabbit hole of ironic introspection, he delivers a cracking blow of insight that leaves you reeling.

Also highly recommended is Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

I very quickly became a huge fan of David Sedaris' books. This was the best yet. Many laugh out loud moments. Highly recommend.

After so much wonderful writing, it's high time for Mr. Sedaris to write a crappy book. You know, the one that lets us all know that he's finally decided to settle on his laurels, to half-heartedly scribble down his droll observations, polish them up until he loses interest and lazily brush them in the general direction of his editor. I'm sorry to say he's written another absolute gem. Brilliant, funny, touching--pretty much out of the park. It's terribly disappointing.
Next book, when you write the requisite stinker, Mr. Sedaris, I'll be ready with my scathing review. Stars? Sorry, fresh out. Oh, you will stink, Mr. Sedaris. And when you do, I'll be there. You can count on it.

Woo... just read some of the other reviews, and it looks like I liked this book more than the majority. Or at least, felt more strongly about it, since so many are just "mehs". I don't think this collection had as many strong, stand-out essays as his others. But I also think that Sedaris is best listened-to; his pacing sometimes doesn't translate to the page (or at least my head) and it certainly improves his work. Given that, I still thought this was a good collection that's worth reading, if only for "The Smoking Section," his diary of quitting smoking while staying in Japan, along with reflections on how he started smoking and what happens afterwards. It's a nice comparison to learning French in "Me Talk Pretty One Day." His essay on their awful neighbor, Helen, was another really good one. And there are several airplane/airport/hotel situations that you'll appreciate if travel much. Or if you've ever just really hated the person you had to sit next to. Or if you're a competitive cryer. Oh, and if you're dealing with mortality, refer to the chapter on the gift of a skeleton... I cannot remember titles for the life of me!

Overall, the collection seems to focus less on his siblings and parents and more on his life with Hugh. I was lucky to hear him read from these essays while they were still being published, and those memories sort of mixed with reading them. I keep drawing comparisons between his and Hugh's relationship and mine with my husband... it never comes out sounding right, but I see strange similarities. Now I just need to publish and make money selling books. :)

Okay, so back on track - this was a good book. It's not what I'd start on if I'd never read David Sedaris. But it's a good follow-up.

i ordered "when you are engulfed in flames" and received an entirely different book. i have contacted/emailed the seller multiple times with no response at all in the past few weeks. very disappointed with the transaction with this seller. poor business :(

We purchased this to listen to in our car on a long trip and it put us to sleep. Very corny and boring.

Fans of Sedaris will be disappointed. The trademark sense of humor is sorely missing, replaced by "touching" stories.

Sedaris is Sedaris in this wonderful collection of stories. One thing I like about this collection is that the author, who is about my age, is aging in his writing. As hilarious as his stories about his childhood and young adulthood are, he has become more introspective and quirky, just like the rest of us. His ability to look at and experience the world in everyday life, and present it to us through his eyes is as appealing as ever.

Sorry, I must be missing a gene or two or three - cannot for the life of me understand why this book is supposed to be funny. Sedaris deals with the droll and mundane in life, and that's basically all the book is.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames is filled with more of David Sedaris's essays on pretty much anything that crosses his mind. From his neighbor Helen to the boil on his lower back to wanting to see the dingo at the zoo. Sedaris dwells on his inadequacies to the point of sleep (the reader's). There are some humorous moments, but Sedaris focuses on the negative too much and the comic relief too little.

I'm a Sedaris fan - I think his sense of humor is very intellectual and hilarious. He makes fun of himself and gives his impression of the things going on around him - just really funny. I laugh out loud with this one.

Straight from the Van Gogh on the cover through an essay on the practicality of the colostomy bag. The book is filled with the sort of uncomfortably wonderful humor that we have come to expect from Sedaris. Whether you've read his previous five novels or are picking up your first, you'll love this book.

I'm sure David Sedaris takes his stories from his experiences - the fun (for me) is wondering what really happened versus where his imagination took over. No matter - his stories are full of his world-view that often made me laugh out loud. Very entertaining.

As always, David Sedaris delivers an easy to read and very funny book. He never disappoints.

This is just another example of the brilliance of David Sedaris. Now, not as ordinary in his lifestyle, David embarks on new adventures that most people would care to forget or just let pass into obscurity. His style and sincerity remain the same. Go David. This book needs to be read twice in succession. Once to injest the initial shock, again to savor all the wit and irony of everyday stories being turned into hysterical anectdotes.

I read this entire book on a 12 plus hour flight to Beijing, China. Those seated around me was laughing because I was getting so much enjoyment from my book. This is possibly his best book yet.

For my money, he's the best bittersweet comic author out there and nothing beats him reading his own work.