Why read When You Are Engulfed in Flames?

Book cover of When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Book description

David Sedaris's remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this new book of stories. Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life - the etiquette of having a lozenge fall from…

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Tokyo

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Why read it?

2 authors picked When You Are Engulfed in Flames as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Michelle Muto

Author

I could potentially recommend any of Sedaris’ early works. Pick one, you won’t regret it.

Sedaris has a way of taking our most mundane lives and making them hilarious. His style can be best described as memoirs meet standup comedy. We’ve all had those weird, awkward family moments. Sedaris does a great job of making them funny. Warning: people tend to look at you rather oddly and give you space when you listen to the audiobook while out walking alone.

From Michelle's list on The best fun books to read in dark times.

Phillip Lopate

Author

Any one of David Sedaris’s brilliantly funny collections could just as easily have made it on this list, as he is a true master of the comic essay, but I chose this one because it has some of my favorites. When he writes about his family I have to rub my eyes in wonderment that he can see them so objectively while still loving them.

From Phillip's list on The best comic essay collections.