When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Finale

I finished David Sedaris' latest last night. He ended the book with a longer piece about quitting smoking. Sedaris started smoking when he was 20 years old and over the years, smoking has become harder and harder to do, with restaurants, hotels and sometimes whole states banning the practice. When he found himself staying in worse and worse dumps of hotels just so he could smoke in his room - well, that definitely helped him quit.

Sedaris read that to rid yourself of a habit, it helps to shake up your routine. So, in the extreme sense of the phrase, he and Hugh went to Japan for three months. (In the end, he writes that quitting smoking cost him $20,000.) I enjoyed his stories about Japan. He took language classes and, in true Sedaris form, sucked at them. (I laughed so hard when he said his favorite fellow student was the young girl who was dumber than he was. When she surpassed him in skills, he hated her.) It was interesting to hear how polite the Japanese are to each other. They don't litter, vandalize, lock their bikes, etc. One mom even put a towel under her child's feet when he wanted to stand on the train seat to see out the window, and the cleaned his fingerprints off the glass before exiting the train. Seriously? In comparison, we're a bunch of rude, loud, obnoxious, littering vandals. We could learn a little something from the Japanese, and I don't doubt several other cultures as well.

I enjoyed the book very much. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as Me Talk Pretty One Day, however there were plenty of times the other passengers on the bus heard me laugh.

When You're Engulfed in Flames, Part II

Some thoughts:

1. Sedaris is getting older. I think he's around 50 now. And in his experiences and his writing, you can tell. He's more afraid to talk to people (he quit learning French, so really can't talk to people). He doesn't drive. He doesn't cook. He sits around at home a lot. He takes little walks. He relies on boyfriend Hugh to manage their money, fix things around the house, nearly everything. He wears ratty old clothes because he's too afraid he'll wreck new things. While it all seems a little pathetic - you're 50, not 85 - it's all the more hilarious when he writes about it.

2. I love when in his mind he makes assumptions about strangers he meets - usually on a plane, because living in France means he has to take long flights a couple times a year to America. He thinks they're assholes and they prove him wrong, or he thinks they're nice and need his pity and they end up being complete jerks. Totally relateable.

3. His stories about when he and his siblings were kids are so funny. By his actions and expressions, you can tell he was a little gay boy. I wonder if his family knew then, too, or just thought he was little more flamboyant than the other boys? His dad cracks me up. He seems to have no sympathy for stupid kid stuff and you can tell Sedaris and his sister, Amy, definitely got their humor and wit from him. But even though he can be harsh sometimes, you can tell he's proud of his crazy kids.

I have just a few stories left.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

I love David Sedaris. I'm trying to remember when I was first introduced to his writing, and I think it was in college by my best friend and also a fellow co-worker. After I read Me Talk Pretty One Day, I was hooked. It still remains my favorite collection of his. I even asked for a New Yorker subscription for my birthday - half the reason was to check each week for a new Sedaris story. (While The New Yorker is a great pub, I never had the time to read the whole thing each week on top of working, eating, sleeping and all the other magazines and books I read - thing's dense!)

Sedaris got his "big break" when he recorded his reading of SantaLand Diaries for Ira Glass' Chicago radio morning show several years back (Sedaris is still a frequent contributor to This American Life). This is one of the funniest stories I've ever heard/read. Sedaris does a lot of what I call immersion writing - throwing himself into possibly humorous situations and seeing what comes of it. For SantaLand Diaries, he worked as an elf at Macy's. This is probably his most famous work, yet in his mind, it's one of his least favorites. However, I listened to a podcast with him recently and he seems to dislike many of his stories once they've been published - he's ready to move on. (I also love his stories about being a house painter, a mover and a cleaner - though I can't remember what books those fall in. Me Talk Pretty One Day is about living in Paris, and not speaking the language. Sedaris and his partner Hugh live abroad a majority of the time.)

Sedaris is self-deprecating, humble being. His life situations are very entertaining to read about, yet he personally doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. He keeps a diary, something he writes in every day and indexes every season so he can use it as a reference later. He goes on 30-city lecture tours twice a year, trying out new material. He'll read stories and gauge the audience reaction - rewriting later that night if need be, or trashing something that bombed. He's not a comedian, but his process seems similar.

His latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, is what I'm reading now. I just started, so thoughts to come later. However, Sedaris stops in the Twin Cities this weekend. I can't make these engagements, but maybe when he returns in the fall. His lectures are always packed, so arriving early is important.

Today, Friday June 13: University of Minnesota bookstore, 7 p.m.
Saturday June 14: Borders in Roseville, 1 p.m.
October 19: State Theater, 7 p.m.

Who else loves Sedaris? Do you have a favorite essay of his?