Another essay dealt with shopping with one of his sisters. Being small, he has trouble finding clothes in his size in the men's department. His sister lead him to the women's department. That proved to be quite entertaining. Then, he does what many small people do, including me. He heads for the kids’ aisle. You are not alone, Mr. Sedaris.

Another essay deals with what happens when he coughs on an airplane. He gets a cough drop, but a mishap sends the lozenge careening off the back of the seat in front of him and into the lap of the unsuspecting passenger next to him, a lady in cut off jeans who is sound asleep. Of course the lozenge sticks ...

Then he describes how he quit smoking in Tokyo. This is written in diary style, so we know exactly how he feels every day through the entire ordeal. Along the way, we hear about his Japanese language classes and shopping without being able to read the language.

Many of these essays are extremely funny especially those where there was no profanity. Most of them are like this. It was so jarring when he used it, I wondered why he did it.

All in all, When You Are Engulfed in Flames is good for more than few laughs. It proved, for me, at least, to be a generous dose of the best medicine. Try it for yourself.