Product Description David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French ("Jesus Shaves"); what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm ("Let It Snow"); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations ("Six to Eight Black Men"); what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like ("The Monster Mash"); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry ("Cow and Turkey").
No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called "one of the funniest writers alive" (Economist).
Wonderfully funny and sadisticNovember 19, 2008 One of my favorite Sedaris collections. It has some new stories as well as some old that I have read elsewhere. Great stocking stuffer for a Sedaris fan. All the stories are hilarious - especially "Santaland Diaries." Sedaris has a gift for humor that shines throughout this book.
Holiday TalesNovember 16, 2008 David Sedaris is a witty author who writes essays that can be simultaneously humorous and disturbing. This collection of stories confirms this impression, and they are loosely autobiographical, and sometimes veer into the purely fictitious. "Santaland Diaries" falls in the first category as the humble author writes "I am a thirty-three-year-old man applying for a job as an elf." He writes about the dark side of a full time elf job, selecting his elf name of "Crumpet", donning a green velvet elf suit, and seeing things in Santaland that no living person would ever care to see. An elf with a handle bar mustache hitting on the moms, a child peeing on fake snow. Dark, yes. In "Let It Snow", he writes of being locked out of his house with his siblings on the fifth day of a snowstorm, as his mom suffered a "little nervous breakdown" and enjoyed drinking wine while the children desperately clammered to get in the house, eventually faking a death to get inside. "Season's Greetings" is a family holiday season newsletter, which starts with desperate circumstances and goes on methodically listing a crescendo of catastrophes; the perfect antidote to those sweet bragging holiday letters we all have received, and maybe, even written. Mr. Sedaris either works for you or not. You get to choose.
The fractured side of ChristmasNovember 8, 2008 David Sedaris Little Brown, Co., 2008 ISBN: 0316035904 Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com, 10/08 4 Stars The fractured side of Christmas... I'm not sure what I was expecting when I began reading Holidays On Ice. What I found was a collection of short stories by David Sedaris. At sometime or other, we each have lost that holiday spirit and turned into Grinch. I have always loved Christmas and enjoyed putting up my tree on my birthday. My husband always said December 12 was too early. You can just imagine what he said when we saw the Christmas decorations that were in the stores in early October. You can love Christmas and still enjoy Holidays On Ice. Sedaris offers a fractured look at the holiday. He shares insights of a department store elf and a family that opens their home to a stranger. Sedaris writes with disdain and pessimism. This book is perfect for that person in your life that is tired of decorated trees and Christmas Carols. This is the perfect stocking stuffer for my husband!
Hell....O, this is funny!November 3, 2008 Reviewed by Danelle Drakefor Reader Views (10/08)
Really, really good short stories are really, really rare. "Holidays on Ice" is one of those rare treats. DO NOT PACK IT AWAY WITH THE ARTIFICIAL CHRIST MAS TREE - LEAVE IT OUT YEAR-ROUND!
When you begin the book reading "Santa Land Diaries" you imagine yourself right there in elf hell and from that point on you are hooked. How can you take yourself serious when you are an elf? Each story after that will make you smile and relish the wit of the writer.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, holidays are stressful for everyone. Tuck "Holidays on Ice" by David Sedaris into your bag and purchase a few extra copies for those on your list; you will be well on your way to a more relaxed season. A bit of alcohol would help, just for good measure.
Hilarious! The new stories are a welcome addition!October 26, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read the original version of this collection a few years ago and really enjoyed it so I jumped at the chance of reading the stories again and the new additional stories! The new stories are definitely a welcome addition!
Of the original stories, The SantaLand Diaries starts the collection off on a hilarious note. You get to read bout the inner workings of being a department store Christmas elf. The crazy santas, elves and customers! Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!! starts off innocently enough as a family holiday letter and quickly takes a turn for the hilariously insane, like a lot of Sedaris's stories.
Of the new stories, Jesus Shaves is by far my favorite. It had me crying from laughing so hard. I don't want to give anything away, so just trust me, it's hilarious. Six to Eight Black Men was also hilarious along the same line. Definitely learned things I didn't know about how other countries celebrate to holidays.
I wasn't totally fond of The Monster Mash, about a trip to a medical examiner's office, it spoke to my weak stomach and my stomach said no thank you. But it still had it's funny moments.
All in all this is a hilarious holiday collection and the new stories are a welcome addition helping add additional holidays to this collection.
