When You Are Engulfed in Flames

When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris

I really wanted to like this book as I hear all sorts of great things about Sedaris. I expected to laugh out loud till I cried. Unfortunately, one shouldn't have expectations when reading Sedaris. I read this book with my book club called "The Itty Bitty Reading Committee". Two members of the group had read previous books by Sedaris and thought this one was great. Two of us disagreed and thought the author self-centered and narcissistic.

This book is a series of short stories about the author's life and his day to day existence. Many stories have the minor theme of death and dying running through them. The stories are entertaining, some funny, some stupid and some just plain ridiculous. Overall, this book was OK, definitely not a page turner for me but some of the stories were thought provoking. I did find it interesting to be a voyeur into Sedaris personal life.

Needless to say, David Sedaris is a author whose personality kinda got on my nerves and in the way of my complete enjoyment of the book. I am wondering if I should try another one of his books or just abandon Sedaris altogether.