Book Review: When You Are Engulfed in Flame by David Sedaris

When You Are Engulfed in Flame is the book that will effectively divide David Sedaris fans into two groups; those that like Sedaris's later work and those that don't. This book, while still within that ever familiar Sedaris territory of humorous pulled from the author's real life, is of a decisively different tone.

The major difference between previous books and this one is that Sedaris is now the owner of quite a bit more money. While previous books mined his middle class childhood and the days he spent as a struggling odd job professional, this new Sedaris work primarily concerns itself with book tours, France, and a lot of time spent alone.

The writing is still on point and the classic David Sedaris wit is still razor sharp. The money has done very little to change Sedaris himself, and certainly not in any way that he can't make a self deprecating joke out of. It's just far less likely that a rich man will find himself in the position to be directly mistaken for an erotic housekeeper. The wealthy don't generally have much cause to enter your home with a bucket of cleaning supplies and go to town. In this latest tome, Sedaris spends far more time obsessing over the creatures that surround his Normandy home, accidentally befriending potential pedophiles and shopping for skeletons. It's still hilarious and mortifying, but it's just different.

That's not to say this book isn't without the classic Sedaris craziness. Many have speculated that the author makes a lot of his essays up, and in fact, the book should be in the fiction section. While no essayist is any good without a little embellishment, it is hard to believe anyone could dream this stuff up. After getting into a fight with his seatmate on a plane, he proceeds to accidentally cough his lozenge on her lap after she falls asleep. What do you do in that situation? No one knows, and no one could possibly entertain that notion without feeling the shame and embarrassment that comes with it. Sedaris must in fact lead a very embarrassing life.

Any fan of "The Santaland Diaries" will love Sedaris's diary of his trip to Japan to quit smoking. While many of us certainly don't have the means to live in Japan for a few months in order to drop a nasty habit, we can probably still relate to dropping one. It is interesting to read about Sedaris in Japan; he flunks at his language classes and can't work his appliances. His confusion about Japan mirrors his confusion about what life will be like without cigarettes in a charming way that any reader will love.

The best story by far is one that is truly his classic style. It is the retelling of a strange friendship; his time spent during the day with his elderly, racist, cranky neighbor. Sedaris watches soap operas with her and tries to be kind as she beats on foreign delivery people, and through the fights and the terrible cooking realizes she is his true friend.

Overall, I think this book really has a good heart. He may not be the same man we grew to love in Naked or Me Talk Pretty One Day, but many of us aren't the same reader either. Despite all his changes, Sedaris is still the witty, self-deprecating man that we love to make us cringe.