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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
 
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames (Paperback)

by David Sedaris (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 17.99
Price: CDN$ 13.13 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames + Me Talk Pretty One Day + Naked: Tag: The New York Times Bestseller Tag 2: Au of Barrel Fever &Holiday
Total List Price: CDN$ 51.97
Price For All Three: CDN$ 37.93

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  • This item: When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Sedaris's sparkling essays always shimmer more brightly when read aloud by the author. And his expert timing, mimicry and droll asides are never more polished than during live performances in front of an audience. Happily, four of the 22 pieces are live recordings, and listeners can hear Sedaris's energy increase from the roaring, rolling laughter of the appreciative audience. Sedaris's studio recording of his 10-page Of Mice and Men runs 16 minutes, while the live recording of Town and Country, which runs the same length in print, expands to 22 minutes thanks to an audience that often doesn't let him finish a sentence without making him pause for laughter to subside. The studio recordings usually begin with an acoustic bass and brief sound effect (a buzzing fly, the lighting of a cigarette, the clinking of ice in a drink, etc.). Sedaris's brilliant magnum opus, The Smoking Section (about his successful trip to Tokyo is quit smoking) stretches across the final two CDs. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 28). (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.


From AudioFile

In David Sedaris's excellent latest collection, cringe-worthy moments follow on the heels of laugh-out-loud ones--you may never buy another pair of thrift-store pants, for example, and that's only the beginning. The stories jump back and forth in time and locale--Sedaris is in middle school, in college, in his grown, professional life; now North Carolina, now New York, now Normandy. The constant is Sedaris's narration, and that's why his delivery works so well with his words--every absurdity is made more believable (if not more palatable) thanks to his steady reading. He sounds incredulous and world-weary all at the same time. Death may be a recurring theme in these essays, but listeners will chuckle helplessly all the same. Track listings with titles are helpfully printed on the CDs, so it's easy to go back and find favorites again. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and thought provoking, Jul 3 2008
By Naomi Bennett (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: When You Are Engulfed in Flames (Hardcover)
David Sedaris' managed to write a stream of consciousness set of reminiscences which were hilarious, sometimes upsetting, brave and often thought provoking. He talked about the kind of embarassing or uncomfortable moments that most of us try to forget right after they've occured with both humour and honesty. His section on how he quit smoking was brilliant and really very insightful about the whole subject of addiction. I think what I liked so much about this book apart from just how funny it was is that it was filled with insight without ever becoming pompous. All in all, a really good book that makes you laugh out loud, think about difficult topics, and read far later in the night than you meant to because it's so hard to put down.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Self-Absorption Driven to Laughter, Nov 18 2008
This review is from: When You Are Engulfed in Flames (Hardcover)

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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Darker Than His Usual Offerings, Still Wonderful, Jul 24 2008
By S. Bellamy (British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: When You Are Engulfed in Flames (Hardcover)
I've been a fan of David Sedaris for a few years now, and have read and re-read his books many times, often for the novel experience (for me) of laughing out loud while reading; few writers are as honest and funny.

This book didn't make me laugh out loud, but I enjoyed it hugely nonetheless, it is a bit deeper, a bit darker, and perhaps more thoughtful and personal than his previous writing.

I look forward to more writing from this author, and I congratulate him on his accomplishment with this latest book.
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Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars David Sedaris all grown up
In the past three weeks I've been on a bit of David Sedaris binge, reading a number of his books in a row. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Tobin Garrett

4.0 out of 5 stars What to do When...
What to do when you are engulfed in flames?? This funny set of personal anecdotes from David Sedaris is clever, witty and downright hilarious. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Coach C

5.0 out of 5 stars When You Are Engulfed In Flames
Very funny! Laugh out loud funny... Hugely entertaining take on so many awkward encounters. Looking forward to my next Sedaris book.
Published 15 months ago by Backstreets

4.0 out of 5 stars When you are engulfed in flames.
When you are engulfed in flames is a wonderful book, but not every fan of Sedaris is going to be happy. Read more
Published 16 months ago by T. Bigney

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT EVEN HIS ART, GOOD ... A-GENT, A-CHAP
And even the cover is somebody else's work. EN ... GU ... "L" ... FED. Lucky that his mama named him David; dark (k)night and all. Y-AWN.
Published 17 months ago by DEBORAH

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring and highly overrated
This guy must have a good agent because this is a book of juvenilia at the best and boring memoir at the worst. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Pip

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