In the story “Keeping Up,” in which Hugh and Sedaris travel, Sedaris comically acknowledges his dependence on his partner’s far superior logistical skills. In the present day, he is happily partnered to his longtime boyfriend, Hugh. In “This Old House,” his mother’s neglectful parenting “style” is made clear when she hires an even more neglectful nanny. Born in the 1960s into a middle-class family in North Carolina, his voice was overwhelmed by his parents’ marital and substance abuse troubles, and his five other siblings’ equally urgent needs. Many of Sedaris’s stories are taken from childhood he views the absurdity and frustration he felt then as formative to how he perceives the world. For its hyperbolic yet poignant connections to contemporary life, the collection met with both critical and commercial success in North America and Europe. At the same time, the stories are practically impossible to classify together. Key themes in the book include the difficulty of sustaining familial relationships, the complexity of sexuality, international travel, and the unpredictability of the modern world. His sixth such collection, it traverses many years of Sedaris’ life, infusing his experiences with his signature eccentricity, irony, and charming absurdity. When You Are Engulfed in Flames is a 2008 compilation of humorous essays by American author David Sedaris.
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