I’ve never read a David Sedaris book, but I’ve always wanted to. Truth be told, you could technically say I still haven’t, as I Iistened to When You are Engulfed in Flames, an audio adaptation of his 2009 work read by the author.
Performers can make or break the reading of an audio book, but Sedaris reading his own work was undoubtedly a wise choice. The inflection, tone, and an intensity he brings to the performance is no doubt indicative of his feelings about his subjects.
Sedaris’s work is a collection of essays; some are dramatically serious, some lighthearted. All of them feature a sly, biting wit. With Sedaris skewering his own habits and failings, such as obstinately refusing to give up a seat on an airplane, but also calling out others for bad behavior – such as a couple on a another flight cursing and carrying on or the behavior of the caregiver who cared for him and his siblings as children.
I found myself amused for the most part by his work. Sometimes my attention strayed, such as when as he explored his own smoking cessation, but I felt myself snapping back to attention when he’d whip out an anecdote such as how he was arrested in Thailand for littering or his conversation with a Japanese merchant. Sedaris doesn’t take himself too seriously, adding the occasional self-deprecating remark to lighten the mood. His account of seeking to purchase a skeleton, and the subsequent display of it by his companion Hugh, is almost too bizarre to be true, but Sedaris’s made the episode nearly side-splitting.
Honestly, I don’t know if I would have made it through the book if I had only read it. I’d like to think that I would have had the tenacity to stick with it, as most of the essays are relatively short, but at times I tired of the recording. Ultimately, Sedaris’s wit was what carried the day and, undoubtedly, makes him a favorite for many readers.
- Michael
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