When You Are Engulfed in Flames
Encyclopedia
When You Are Engulfed in Flames is a collection of essay
s by bestselling American humorist David Sedaris
. It was released on June 3, 2008.
issued a first-run hardcover release of 100,000 copies.
on June 3, 2008. During the interview he recommended moving to Hiroshima
, Japan for three months to stop smoking. This smoking cessation method, which cost the author $23,000, is the subject of the last essay of his book. He also described the genesis for the name of his book. It was the name of a chapter in a book he found in a hotel room in Hiroshima
, Japan. He also appeared on The Late Show
on CBS, with David Letterman.
. It features an early painting by Vincent van Gogh
.
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s by bestselling American humorist David Sedaris
David Sedaris
David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....
. It was released on June 3, 2008.
Synopsis
Sedaris's sixth book assembles essays on various situations such as trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, associations in the French countryside, buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina, having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane, armoring windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds, lancing a boil from another's backside, and venturing to Japan to quit smoking. Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
issued a first-run hardcover release of 100,000 copies.
Television appearances
Sedaris was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
on June 3, 2008. During the interview he recommended moving to Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan for three months to stop smoking. This smoking cessation method, which cost the author $23,000, is the subject of the last essay of his book. He also described the genesis for the name of his book. It was the name of a chapter in a book he found in a hotel room in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan. He also appeared on The Late Show
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
on CBS, with David Letterman.
Cover art
The first-edition cover was designed by Chip KiddChip Kidd
Chip Kidd is an American author, editor, and graphic designer, best known for his book covers.- Early life :Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in the Reading suburb of Shillington, strongly influenced by American popular culture...
. It features an early painting by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
.
Contents
- It's Catching - A work on Hugh and his mother
- Keeping Up - Sedaris trying to keep up with Hugh, who walks too fast
- The Understudy - Memories of a bad white trashWhite trashWhite trash is an American English pejorative term referring to poor white people in the United States, suggesting lower social class and degraded living standards...
babysitter. - This Old House - David moves into a boarding house.
- Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie? - Sedaris's recollections on various bad clothing and "accessories"
- Road Trips - Being picked up by a driver that wants a blow job.
- What I Learned - Talking about Princeton
- That's Amore - A rude neighbor named Helen
- The Monster Mash - Sedaris's fascination with dead bodies.
- In the Waiting Room - Language barriers and the consequences
- Solution to Saturday's Puzzle - David's throat lozenge falls on to a bitchy airplane seatmate
- Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Toadstool - His parents collecting art
- Memento Mori - Buying a human skeleton for Hugh
- All the Beauty You Will Ever Need - Making coffee without water and his relationship with Hugh
- Town and Country - A cabdriver in New York who talks about his sex life
- Aerial - Using album covers to scare away birds
- The Man in the Hut - A neighbor in France who was sent to jail for molesting his wife's grandchildren
- Of Mice and Men - About icebreaker conversations
- April in Paris - About interacting with animals and Sedaris's recollections of a spider
- Crybaby - Sedaris sits next to a grieving man in an airplane.
- Old Faithful - Hugh lances a boil on Sedaris's backside
- The Smoking Section - Sedaris tries to quit smoking in Japan