When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris - 3 stars

[Shelly]

This was not my first David Sedaris book, but the first I did on audio. A book of essays or short stories is the perfect audio book for me. I don't have to worry about coming back to it and remembering characters and the storyline. In that way, it worked but overall, it seemed long. Its ability to hold my attention and make me laugh had peaks and troughs. Perhaps that was partly because Sedaris writes quite frankly about his addictions. I am not sure I realized that he had serious drug and alcohol issues that he overcame. The last part of this book focuses on how he quit smoking by spending 3 months in Japan. At least that was part of his plan. Although his time in Japan provided a good deal of funny incidents, especially as he tries to learn the language, the reality of his fight with tobacco dulled the humor. This was a fun book but I may have had enough David Sedaris for a while.