Point of View

Because David Sedaris as the author concentrates his essays from his own perspective, all of his work in When You Are Engulfed in Flames is from the first person point of view. In effect, reading the book is not unlike reading the private journal or diary of someone who has left their intimate recordings out on a desk for the reader to gleam. Sedaris is the main character in each and every piece he crafts because of this structural decision, and the reader is forced to see events unfold from the perspective of the author/protagonist rather than by examining the thoughts and feelings of other characters from a third person perspective.

This doesn't mean that Sedaris fails to capture said thoughts and feelings of other characters besides his own. Ironically (and Sedaris is a huge believer in the use of literary irony), Sedaris as...