It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It

by Robert Fulghum

Book Overview

From the author to the reader:

Show-and-Tell was the very best part of school for me, both as a student and as a teacher.

As a kid, I put more into getting ready for my turn to present than I put into the rest of my homework. Show-and-Tell was real in a way that much of what I learned in school was not. It was education that came out of my life experience.

As a teacher, I was always surprised by what I learned from...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804105820
• ISBN13: 9780804105828
• Release Date: March 1991
• Publisher: Ivy Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

wonderful

Stories about real life that make you laugh out loud and put a smile on your face about how good life can be if you look at things the right way. lot's of quick little stories that are snapshots of goodness.

Hilarious!

Robert Fulghum just has a way of giving the most common scenarios a hilarious twist. One of my favorite stories in this book is when he remembers thinking of his mother like she was some sort of super-hero when he was young, because she pulled the gunk out of the kitchen sink trap with her BARE HANDS!

Worth Reading

This book was witty and insightful, and even though the author is a preacher, he doesn't push his religion on the reader. Very enjoyable and meaningful read. Fun and worthwhile!

I've stretched out on a few burning beds in my time too...

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. 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 first 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. The book 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. Well worth the read.

Wonderful!!

This book has touched me more than any other one I've ever read. I sometimes refer to it as my personal bible. Fulghum's ideas on the simple things in life always give me hope that life isn't as bad as I sometimes think it is. This book will make you think about things in a different way. Personally, I carry it with me wherever I go and use the stories to apply to some of the hardest subjects in life.