I didn't laugh out loud at something on every page of David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames; sometimes I only smiled or giggled. Okay, I exaggerate, but, except for the last, way-too-long essay, I really enjoyed the book.
My absolute favorite part: David's partner has seen a skeleton in a shop window and wants it—the skeleton, not the window—as a present. David goes to buy it, but the shopkeeper refuses to sell. He asks her if she knows anywhere else where he could buy some other skeleton. She suggests that he check bulletin boards. He thinks, "I don't know what circles this woman runs in, but I have never in my life seen a skeleton advertised on a bulletin board. Used bicycles, yes, but no human bones, or even cartilage for that matter." (page 151)
It gets better.
He does find a skeleton and gives it to his partner who hangs it from the ceiling in the bedroom. David then describes how inanimate objects communicate. "It's funny how certain objects convey a message—my washer and dryer for instance. They can't speak, of course, but whenever I pass them they remind me that I'm doing fairly well. 'No more laundromat for you,' they hum. My stove, a real downer, tells me daily that I can't cook, but before I can defend myself my scale jumps in, shouting from the bathroom, 'Well, he must be doing something. My numbers are off the charts.' The skeleton has a much more limited vocabulary and says only one thing: 'You are going to die.'" (page 154)
And the book is informative. I didn't know that "every year five thousand children are startled to death." (page 9) Actually, that part's pretty funny, too, but you'll have to read the book to find out how.
Last edited by humphreysmar; 09/02/08 09:01 PM.
