When You Are Engulfed in Flames

The arch and bemused essayist David Sedaris returns with another collection of humorous pieces that delight in the inanity of contemporary life. Topics for consideration include his family's horror at his depictions of them in his books, a randy tow-trucker driver, and his misadventures and misunderstandings in Paris, London, and Japan as he travels around with his lover Hugh. Though his tone is acidic to the point of cruelty, Sedaris's essays are at their finest when elements of desperate pathos and surprising sentimentality break through the witty veneer.