When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.06 You Save: $22.93 (88%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
Book Review: Sedaris - Equal and opposite of Chicken Soup
Summary: 5 Stars
I was introduced to David Sedaris when a relative of mine was in a coma for 5 months. I was told that someone was coming to the hospital, sitting beside the bed and reading from the "Chicken Soup" series of books. I was horrified as I'd been told that a person in a coma can still hear and I couldn't fathom the torture my loved one must be in - unable to move or communicate and being subjected to a torture akin to mental water boarding. Immediately I put the word out for some other essay series that could be read to him that would nullify the damage being done by this well intentioned person. David Sedaris was suggested several times and this is how I met him (literarily speaking).
I have "Engulfed" in the audio version that's read by the author. My favorites from Sedaris are always when he relates tales about his boyhood and goofy family. There's plenty to be found here. In this compilation I found the new bike essay interesting, the crotchety lady neighbor hilarious, but the whole smoking cessation portion was so close to home that it was a bit unnerving. He went to Japan, I went to Mexico. It worked for him, not for me...
I highly recomend this book - you can never go wrong with Sedaris (even if your in a coma)...bg
Book Review: Ho Hum
Summary: 3 Stars
I knew it was a bad sign that I had made it to almost page 100 without laughing aloud - and barely even cracking a smile. That has never happened to me with any of Sedaris' other books. I was crying (in public) when I read 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' from laughing so hard. Not so much here.
Finally, there got to be some moments of that, but not many....and never to the tears in the eye stage. I refer to him being on a plane with a woman sitting beside him as the highlight of the passages.
I found with this and his last book - he writes less and less about his family, which were such perfect fodder for his earlier works. Maybe living abroad keeps those encounters less frequent - or maybe he or they just don't want them for public use.
The Smoking Section was ok - but I wasn't really in the mood to read his day to day diary, let alone on the topic of stopping smoking or travels in Japan.
All being said, Sedaris' writing seems a bit more focused and tighter, which isn't a bad thing. But sometimes it was the perceived ramblings that made things humourous.
For those looking to read, I would wait for paperback. Probably not worth the hardback price.
Book Review: Comedy at its finest
Summary: 5 Stars
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?Book Review: Van Gogh! High hopes and satisfaction!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been looking forward to this book since I finished reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. And then, when I saw that one of my favorite Van Gogh paintings had been selected to be on the cover, I was even more ecstatic! So, needless to say, I had high hopes.
And I did enjoy reading this book. I'm looking forward to reading it to my fiance on our upcoming road trip. But, I am a little disappointed to admit that this is not my favorite book of essays. Favorite cover, yes. But the content, while overall hysterical, was missing something in comparison to his earlier works. And that may be because there was less about his family, which is always my favorite parts... or because he ended up abandoning the world of tobacco.
Either way, I admit that while this was not his best book of essays, it is still far superior to other essayists that I have read (such as ones by authors with pompous sounding names), and certainly one of the best covers.
And after finishing it, I am still very excited to read his next book... I hope it has more about his family though (or Hugh's family... that first essay was hysterical).
Book Review: Still Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
Years after achieving notoriety with "Santaland Diaries" and after many tales of cringing (and often astounding) self-revelation, it is reasonable to ask if David Sedaris can still deliver a story you would never imagine in print or if he can turn a phrase unlike anyone else. In short, yes he can. Sedaris still sets the standard for bracing, introspective writing that offers laughs with a lingering sense of pathos.
Long-time readers will find the collection of stories to be a seamless addition to Sedaris' body of work. The new chapters deepen and expand upon familiar subjects such as Sedaris' life-long negotiation with an anarchic family; mainstream expectations of "success," and a world filled with very random, very odd characters.
Newcomers to Sedaris will have no problem starting here. Sedaris' strength as a writer is his ability to beckon to absolute strangers and proceed to tell them the most revealing stories about himself in a wry, disarming way. However, it is very likely that a new reader will rapidly move onto Sedaris' other books because there really is no one else who tells a story like him.