When You Are Engulfed in Flames - Book Review

Book: When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Author: David Sedaris

David Sedaris's memoir, When You are Engulfed in Flames, is a comical piece that will keep you laughing every chapter. However, if you just focus on the thin, comedic meaning you will miss most of the book.

David Sedaris is a forty-year-old man that tells about his childhood, and his young adult life in a collection of short essays arranged in a non-chronological order. David lives in France with his longtime partner, Hugh.

The title of this book is derived from a chapter where David begins his efforts to quit smoking. He takes a trip to Japan and is amused by the broken english around the hotel room. One example is on a fire safety sign that says:

"When you check in the hotel room. When you find fire. When you are engulfed in flames"

The significance of the title is that sometimes there is nothing you can do about something. When you are engulfed in flames there almost nothing you can do. This could shift the focus into prevention, for him it was quitting smoking.

Numerous chapters have David speaking about death, whether it was to someone really close to him – his mother – or a complete stranger. David realizes that everyone dies sooner or later and that no one escapes it. He learns to acknowledge his mortality and accept it.

Lines I loved:

"Ive often hear cigarettes compared to friends. They can't loan you money, but they are, in a sense, there for you, these mute little comfort merchants always ready to lift your spirits. It's how I now feel about macadamia nuts, and these strange little crackers I've been buying lately."

"I was awoken at dawn by my uncle's hacking, which was mucky and painful-sounding and suggested imminent death."