Adventures in David Sedaris, part 1

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
You could probably guess that I am the ideal audience for David Sedaris. For starters,

I listen to NPR regularly.
I love humor laced with sarcasm.
I have an overdeveloped sense of urgency around for gay rights.
My interest for living in the US is waning, and finding American citizens living abroad is more and more enticing.
I love a great story laced somewhere in between these topics.

David Sedaris meets all those things and more. There were times during the audiobook where I literally laughed out loud in my car, then looked to see if anyone was watching me make a fool out of myself. Yet there were other times when his voice became whiny and monotonous when I had to turn off the book just to find - ironically - he was the special guest of the day on NPR.

The part of When You Are Engulfed in Flames dedicated to David's journey about quitting smoking, while interesting, dragged on endlessly. His love of spiders was not entirely enduring either. I mean, who loves spiders above people and - ghastly - above puppies?!

I'm not done yet with David Sedaris, but I hope my next experience doesn't make me want to put down the book. Or worse - turn off NPR.

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