It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It [Hardcover]

Robert Fulghum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 1989

After his triumphant All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum returns with a richer, more mature, more strikingly memorable collection of essays guaranteed to provide hours of heart-warming, humorous entertainment. Villard.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fulghum's second book seems destined to follow All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten as a bestseller. Quoting a man rescued from a burning bed, the title is a clue to the merriment in some of the essays collected here, inviting readers to laugh as they empathize with those who put themselves in absurd situations. These stories remind us that there is a clownish facet in everyone's character, one of the traits that makes us human. In other entries, the author describes the joys of climbing trees and of overcoming the hassles that threaten a great Christmas pageant. The selections beguile and educate, whatever the subject, but most moving is Fulghum's short biography of John Pierpont, who died at age 81, and failed at everything despite promising beginnings. Though overlooked, notes the author, the record shows he accomplished much, not the least of which was writing "Jingle Bells." BOMC featured Selection; QPBC alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Following the success of his triumphant bestseller, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Fulghum returns with a richer, more memorable collection filled with insight into the commonplace. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1ST edition (August 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394583175
• ISBN-13: 978-0394580562
• ASIN: 0394580567
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,197,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Fulghum is the bestselling author of "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten," "It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It," "Uh-Oh," "Maybe (Maybe Not)," "From Beginning To End," "Words I Wish I Wrote," "True Love," and "What On Earth Have I Done?"

"Third Wish" is his first novel, published originally in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian. He lives in Seattle, Washington and on the Greek island of Crete.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, December 20, 2001

By 

Barbara L. Franklin (Greenville, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (Mass Market Paperback)

With great wit and gentle grace, Robert Fulgham holds up a mirror so that we may see ourselves and our foiables more clearly. He has a unique ability to point out the treasure of the little things, the common things in life. After reading one of his books, I feel more serene, more appreciative of my blessings, and smile at the memories he has helped me recall. If you have not been "stopping to smell the roses" this book will help you start. Enjoy!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More collected essays, August 10, 1998

By 

David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is simliar to ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN in consisting of several dozen short, easily readable, reflective essays. I liked his first book a little better - I thought the overall quality a little higher. There are, however, many fine pieces in this collection (including one commenting on the theme of his first book that is brutally honest). The mood is a bit darker in this second volume, but that is not meant as a perjorative description, it merely means that Fulghum shows a different side to his ponderings. If you liked his first book, you will like this one. If you didn't, then you won't like this one either.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've stretched out on a few burning beds in my time too..., June 22, 2006

By 

Michelle L. Devon "~~Professional Dreamer" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (Mass Market Paperback)

If you've read my other reviews, you know I am a HUGE Robert Fulghum fan. He is my mentor - the reason I began writing my first book that got its first contract. This book is almost funnier and better than the one before, if that's even possible, but only almost. This book inspired me and made me think, made me cry, and made me laugh. You can't ask for a better read than that!

The title piece of the book talks about a man who was interviewed by the news for a house fire. The question posed to the man was how the fire, which was in the bedroom, from the mattress, had started. The man had answered that he didn't know how the fire had started, since the bed was in fire when he lay down on it. Mr. Fulghum talks about how we do that, sometimes: lay down on burning beds. This is, of course, a metaphor for us making poor decisions, decisions not in our best interests, when we know this is the case when we're making them.

And that is the best example of what Mr. Fulghum's writing in all his essays and books I've read have been, including this book. It Was on Fire When I lay Down on It is a series of poignant memoir-style essays, each with their own metaphorical 'lesson' or moral to them... some are touching and moving while others are giggle and snort funny, but all of them speak to a bigger picture or a deeper meaning if you're willing to look beyond the implied. Well worth the read.

I agree with some about his attitude about dogs. I am a dog lover. My Jake is my son, my furry fur-legged brat dog and I love him dearly, but I can't see discrediting an entire man and his entire library or work and contributions to literature, reading, faith and humor just because his opinions differ from mine on one point. The stories he tells are not graphic in nature about his dislike of dogs, so I take those with a grain of salt and move on to the other more poignant things with which I can relate. I will never agree 100% with anyone on everything, and this is simply a point of division in mind between me and Mr. Fulghum. To stop reading him for his personal opinions when he is doing no physical damage (it's just opinion), is something I'm not wont to do.