When You Are Engulfed In Flames

David Sedaris remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this new book of stories.

Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life - the etiquette of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger or how to soundproof your windows with LP covers against neurotic songbirds - to the most deeply resonant human truths.

Taking in the parasitic worm that once lived in his mother-in-law s leg, an encounter with a dingo, the purchase of a human skeleton and culminating in a brilliant account of his attempt to quit smoking - in Tokyo - David Sedaris' sixth story collection is a fresh masterpiece of comic writing.

“The most popular American humorist since Woody Allen... As a prose stylist he is often compared to that other great New Yorker writer James Thurber - dry, mordant, pitch perfect. As a human being, the most obvious comparison is with the comedian Larry Davi”

As the new millennium ends its first decade, it would now seem to be David Sedaris's turn to make us laugh as America blunders about the planet minding everyone else's business. With his strangely soothing eccentricities and his impeccable comic timing, it's hard to imagine a better person to do it. - Sydney Morning Herald

A master at self-deprecation. - Daily Telegraph

He is a seemingly bottomless pit of hilarious anecdotes and pithy truths. - Sunday Telegraph

His beautiful way with words and rambling scene set-ups result in the kind of gentle comedy that will have you bubbling with laughter as Sedans takes embarrassing himself to a whole new level. - MX

The undisputed king of humorous writing. - Harpers' Bazaar

He really does make you laugh out loud. And, as ever, he provides a masterclass in easy, conversational prose. You always have the feeling that you and Dave are sitting down having a chat - albeit an unusually entertaining one. And that is a wildly under-estimated skill. - Sunday Age

David Sedaris lives in Paris. Raised in North Carolina, he has worked as a housecleaner and most famously, as a part-time elf for Macy s. Several of his plays have been produced and he is a regular contributor to Esquire and Public Radio International s 'This American Life'.

David Sedaris remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this new book of stories.Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life - the etiquette of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger or how to soundproof your windows with LP covers against neurotic songbirds - to the most deeply resonant human truths.Taking in the parasitic worm that once lived in his mother-in-law s leg, an encounter with a dingo, the purchase of a human skeleton and culminating in a brilliant account of his attempt to quit smoking - in Tokyo - David Sedaris' sixth story collection is a fresh masterpiece of comic writing.

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