When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris
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Book Summary Information
Author: David SedarisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-02
ISBN: 0316154687
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780316154680
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
Book Review: Walking with Woody Allen and David Sedaris
Summary: 3 Stars
I had seen "When You Are Engulfed In Flames" by David Sedaris on numerous previous trips to the book store. It's the cover that caught my eye each time - an impressionist human skull with a smoldering hand-rolled cigarette clenched in its teeth. (Little did I know till later that this was a Van Gogh painting) Knowing nothing of the author, or the subject matter, I nonetheless held the hardcover volume in my hands willing to try it on the basis of the cover art alone. Perhaps it was the recession, or something that came along to divert my attention, I always returned it to the shelf and moved on.
Until this summer, that is. It's a bit of a tradition of mine when at the shore to stop in a boardwalk or near-the-beach book store and pick up some summer reading for those cool ocean breeze evenings. And at such an occasion, there again was the skull, beckoning me closer. By this time the transition to paperback had happened, so the financial stars aligned for me to actually purchase it.
I tell you this to drive home what my thoughts were when I started reading. I had no idea that David Sedaris was already an author of some renown, or that his pieces appear in the New Yorker, or that he appeared regularly on National Public Radio. I'm not sure what I expected, maybe something deeply dark and sinister. It was a blank canvas. But of course what I discovered is the slightly off-beat and different world of Mr. Sedaris.
After reading the book as I try to rationalize Mr. Sadaris, what I've arrived at is that he is sort of a very gay version of Woody Allen. And I do mean very gay, as Mr. Sedaris's homosexuality is front and center in many of the pieces. But the neurosis and borderline narcissism of Mr. Allen is right there as well. Imagine a very different take on a movie scene with Mr. Allen and Diane Keaton - they are walking through the streets of New York, as Mr. Allen unburdens himself to Ms. Keaton:
WA: So then he invited me into his apartment - I was terrified.
DK: So, what happened next?
WA: Well we sat down and had a drink, and then he asked me if I'd like him to give me a shotgun.
DK: A shotgun? You mean when he blows pot smoke into your mouth?
WA: Well yeh, he had to explain that. At first I thought he was suggesting we drive out to some backwoods place in New Jersey. I was so embarrassed...
A lot of "When You Are Engulfed In Flames" reads like this, and these are the stories that mostly lay limp on the page. Recountings of various family and school/work situations, some punctuated with occasional funny punch-lines that ultimately have the feel of dinner conversations that have gone on a bit too long. So many of these pieces seem to have been written in a style where the intent is for them to be spoken aloud to an audience, rather than as literary works in their own right.
But not everything falls into this category. There are moments of true inspired greatness, and it seems these heights are attained when Mr. Sedaris lets go the template of the talk-show speaker, and lets his mind wander. By far the best piece to illustrate this is "Memento Mori", which I've reread several times and still laugh as hard as the first time. Here, a human skeleton that hangs in his home (a bizarre birthday request from his partner) begins to speak to him, in a twisted sort of modern retelling of the Poe's Tell Tale Heart. It is an exceptional piece, truly warped and twisted in a Monty Python-esque sort of way, and demonstrates the potential that Mr. Sedaris has to take things to a truly different level. There are several other very good pieces as well - "Town & Country", and "Aerial" to name a couple.
Which brings me back to Woody Allen.
Most of Mr. Allen's work is not exceptional. In many ways, he makes the same movie over and over again, each just a slightly different neurotic take on relationships. But we collectively forgive Mr. Allen these misfires, because he has an ability to occasionally envision something really unique, and takes us to a cinematically special place with films that forever remain with us. We wait for these, and relish them when they arrive. A short list I readily think of would include "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Radio Days", and "Zelig". This is not Woody Allen the neurotic, but the cracked-smile satirical genius who can take us all with him to delight in his special world.
I'd like to see Mr. Sedaris take this step. He's clearly capable of it. Why should his books just be a collection of bits and pieces targeted to live audiences? Let's see a coherent piece that makes sense as a novel, where he can just let go with his quirky and truly funny worldview, and leave the stereotypical baggage at home. It would be a pleasure to read, if it happens.
For now, three stars seems to suffice for this effort. There were great moments, but they were packed between a lot of table conversation that was pretty much forgettable.
Summary of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
"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
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
Crybaby
The Smoking Section
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