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

RACHEL SOO THOW - 29 NOV 2021

I’ve been a fan of Sedaris’ previous works such as Calypso, Naked and Holidays on Ice (a great pre-Christmas read by the way!) and this compilation of humorous essays certainly did not disappoint. With its slow start, this collection traverses many years of Sedaris’ life, infusing his experiences with signature irony, commercial eccentricity and chaotic familial relationships. Like his previous work, many of Sedaris’ stories are taken from childhood, and memories of frustration and communication breakdowns run true.

In ‘This Old House,’ his mother’s neglectful parenting “style” is made clear when she hires an even more neglectful nanny. In the present day, he is happily partnered to his longtime boyfriend, Hugh. In the story ‘Keeping Up,’ in which Hugh and Sedaris travel, Sedaris comically acknowledges his dependence on his partner’s far superior logistical skills. In other stories, Sedaris reflects on his sexuality, with particular emphasis on the complex and never-ending process through which one comes to consciousness of one’s sexuality. The story ‘Road Trips’ chronicles a few hitchhiking experiences in the 1970s and 80s in which his patrons made sexual advances. At the time, Sedaris had hardly figured out his own sexuality, creating the perfect storm for a communication breakdown.

Some stories utilize self-deprecating humor to illustrate Sedaris’ unusual ways of looking at the world and responding to things he finds confusing. One of these things is fashion. The story ‘Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie?’ compiles some of the countless fashion mistakes he confidently made. These range from a urine bag called the “Stadium Pal” meant to extend one’s ability to drink while viewing a sports game, to his participation in the questionable trend of bow ties. His obsessive tendencies are further highlighted in ‘April in Paris,’ in which Sedaris visits his French country house only to become obsessed with a single spider making a home there. He proceeds to research spiders’ behavioral habits and feeding patterns, ignoring the rest of the world around him. In ‘The Monster Mash,’ Sedaris visits a morgue, and for a while, thereafter, can only think of death. ‘Memento Mori,’ another morbid story, recalls the time he bought a real human skeleton for Hugh to use as a subject for his art. ‘Solution to Saturday’s Puzzle’ highlights his social awkwardness through a difficult encounter with a couple on a plane. He connects his obsessive and eccentric traits to those of his parents in ‘Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Stool,’ which details their sudden preoccupation with collecting art for their house (despite having minimal art knowledge).

Though When You Are Engulfed in Flames shifts almost frenetically between times, topics, and themes, it colours Sedaris’ life story with vitality and creativity. 

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