The Book of David

Ever misunderstand a foreign nurse in a doctor’s office and return to the waiting room wearing only your underpants? David Sedaris has, and with his sixth collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed in Flames (out tomorrow), the self-deprecating humorist delivers another stellar batch of embarrassing stories — proving that the much-imitated essayist is still the master of a genre he perfected.

With his droll, dry style, Sedaris — who has become such a cultural phenom, books are written about him — turns his pain into readers’ pleasure by recounting personal moments most would only admit to their closest friends after several drinks. In “Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie?” Sedaris explores his insecurity about his flat ass, which leads him to buy latex padding that irritates his nether regions: “Chafed and bony…my natural bottom resembled a rusted coin slot.”

That self-effacing humor is why he gets away with turning a sarcastic, critical eye towards others without sounding like a prick. Recalling his impoverished childhood babysitter Mrs. Peacock in “The Understudy,” he writes, “She had this attitude…that she was as good as us — and that simply was not true.” Says the man sitting in reception in his skivvies.


When You Are Engulfed In Flames is available tomorrow from Little, Brown and Company.