When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

This book was fantastic!  I could barely put it down!
It was my first experience with David Sedaris and I am wholly impressed.  There were so many occasions where I was compelled to laugh out loud, a reaction that rarely happens when I'm reading to myself.  
There was only one chapter I ended up skimming over, and it was just because it was so disjointed. (The one about him going to an Ivy League and his parents wanting him to major in Matricide and Patricide - what the hell?  It lost me in the very beginning about the religious ceremony and never really reigned me back in.  I imagine he was in some way intoxicated when he wrote that section...I can't think of anything else that would explain it and how it is so uncohesive with the rest of the book.)  
All in all, it was a joy to read. I particularly enjoyed his lessons in Japanese.  The way he failed so miserably at the school was wildly engaging.  I especially liked the journal-entry form to it all.  
He's led an absolutely fascinating life and it's a pleasure to read about it all.  
While Japan was fascinating, his obsession with his spiders was heartwarming, and his experience with his neighbor Helen was heartbreaking.  For all his sarcasm and hammyness, he can certainly strike a chord.  
I can't imagine how fun his family reunions must be - his sisters sound like just as fabulous characters as he is.  The story of their babysitters growing up was another laugh-out-loud section.  He's so to-the-point; I love it!
The man-pee-bag-accessory!  That is one of my husband's favorite sections.  The story of the mouse that burned a house to the ground - and his encounter with the limo driver - it was all just so hilarious.
There's just so much of the book I can recount with a smile.  The way he comes up with topics before dinner to discuss with Hugh - I do the same thing with my husband!  He's just so real of a person but he can pen these experiences in such a way that makes them seem so out-of-the-ordinary and wonderful.  He takes the monotony and humdrum out of life and makes it seem extraordinary.  So few authors have that gift these days.
I'm looking forward to working my way through his other books.
Length-wise, I wish it were longer.  I could have kept reading it forever, it was so wonderful!
David Sedaris's writing style is amazing.  I can't believe I went almost 23 years without reading of his work.  He's so engaging and intriguing.  His narrative style feels like a conversation.
The stories were incredible.  He's so transparent and his experiences are fascinating.
I would absolutely read this book again!  I was so wholly amused it was wonderful and absolutely worth a second, third, or even fourth reading!


Length:  4.0
Writing:  5.0
Story:  5.0
Re-readable-ness:  4.0
Overall:  4.5