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.
