Customer Reviews

Holidays on Ice

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The holidays bring out something truly special in David Sedaris, making this more a "best of" than a mere holiday book. It's simply brilliant and, as many reviewers have experienced, one of those rare books that may cause you to laugh out loud in spite of yourself. Its only flaw is that it's a short book, but in content it's a giant.

Avid NPR listeners will instantly recognize the first essay in this book, "Santaland Diaries"; the author's reading of that story is their single most requested encore. His description of becoming a Christmas Elf at Macy's is a true guilty pleasure; scathingly unkind and screamingly funny. If you ever held an undignified job, this is somehow your story - even if you never (pardon the pun) stooped so low as to play an elf.

Sedaris writes like a post-modern Mark Twain, with a dry and piercing wit that drips with charm and cynicism in equal measure. His is the kind of writing that makes me go back to re-read a sentence, a paragraph, even a whole story hoping to savor some particular gem I only wish I'd written. His tone is often dark, even bleak, but there's a wry quality in his stories that lets you know he's really doing it all for effect - setting you up for an even bigger laugh because you know he's enjoying every minute of telling his sad, hilarious stories.

Get in on his story now so you can savor the feeling of waiting impatiently for his next book - and there's no better way to start than to read Holidays on Ice.

This book was a really fantastic collection of 6 short stories regarding the holiday season. I had heard so much about David Sedaris and what a talented satirical writer he was, and I was much impressed by his ability to parody the American publics love/hate relationship during the holiday season. His life as an elf in the Macys's shopping store in New York had me laughing out loud. And the upbeat Christmas letter that includes the introduction of a Vietamese stepchild was hilarious.

I finished the book in two days of light reading and realized the author is truly dark and twisted but extremely talented. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is next on my list. I guarantee you'll like this book, but just to add to the fervor of the writing, I suggest you read it a week before Christmas during your most hellish and frantic points of your life; it'll add to the hilarity of your situation.

To say that David Sedaris doesn't see the world the way that others do is a grievous understatement. He finds equal humor in the bizarre and the mundane. His wit can be both razor sharp and gentle as feather. He writes and says things that maybe you've thought about before and if you haven't thought about them before you'll certainly give them plenty of thought afterwords.

Sedaris gift for storytelling is on display at its finest in this audio collection of holiday-themed stories. The most famous is, of course, "The Santaland Diaries", in which Sedaris relates in hillarious detail his experiences working as an elf at Macy's Santaland in New York. This piece is an American classic which should be compulsory reading for anyone who has worked a retail job during the holidays, not to mention anyone who has ever shopped a store during the holidays. Almost as good is "Front Row Center WIth Thaddeus Bristol" which skewers both a pompous theater critic and the sometimes attrocious children's holiday plays he's reviewing.

In all, this collection contains six stories read by Sedaris himself, his sister Amy and actress Ann Magnuson. The different voices work well to set the tone for each story over the course of the tape, and the variety helps sustain interest which can be an issue with single reader audio programs.

For many of us, the holidays mean laughter and tears. David Dedaris understands this and has given the world six of the finest tools with which to cope.

This book is an excellent collection of some of Sedaris' earlier works, and the story for which the book is named is one of his best. But beware, if you are already familiar with Sedaris you may have already read this one without knowing it; all of the stories contained within appear either in Naked or Barrel Fever.

David Sedaris has a sick sense of humor, and he conveys it well in this book of Christmas shorts. It opens with the extremely funny "Santaland Diaries", giving an insider's view of elves at Macy's. Next comes "Season's Greetings", an overenthusiastic 'family newsletter' that spins off into satirical tangents with the unexpected addition of a Vietnamese daughter. "Dinah, the Christmas Whore" tells of young David's encounter with his father's "Christmas present" ::wink:: "Front Row with Thaddeus Bristol" is a theatrical review of the Christmas pageants in the elementary schools (we've all had to suffer). "Based on a True Story" is a somewhat sickeningly funny look at a hustler trying to gather holiday special ideas. Finally, "Christmas Means Giving" rounds out the collection, telling of two families who can't stop competing with each other. I'm a newcomer to Sedaris's wit, and the next book on my list is 'Naked'. This was a great way to be introduced without being overwhelmed--even if they are Christmas stories being read in July.

I was sitting on an airlpane reading this book and the gentleman next to me asked me if I was "OK". I was uncontrollably laughing. Even after trying to put it down for a few minutes and gaining my composure, it was a fruitless attempt because within seconds I was embarrassing myself again.

Actually, I toyed with giving this five-stars. However, I figure I should employ five-stars for IMPORTANT literary treasures, such as the collected works of Shakespeare, "War and Peace," and "Valley of the Dolls." So, need a laugh? Well, any of Sedaris' books will do. They..."Barrel Fever" and the even better "Naked"...are funny, provocative, and full of weird and colorful people. While "Holidays on Ice" takes from his other books, it is a veritable laugh-o-rama. And "SantaLand Diaries"? I have read it a half-dozen times, and I STILL chortle merrily. David, what are you writing? This Midtowner wants more. And, folks, not only is Sedaris an intelligent, witty writer and essayist, he is just as cute as a button. I enjoy getting his books so I can see his little impish face peering out from the end page. And, really, when it comes right down to it, isn't that what it's all about: the author's CQ (Cute Quotient)?

Sedaris shines when his essays focus on real characters and events. His pieces on family life and French expatriate living in Me Talk Pretty One Day stand out as examples.

Holidays on Ice features fewer such gems. Most of the stories here are fictional, and in my opinion do not work nearly as well. The standout exception, however, is the hilarious SantaLand Diaries, one of the funniest things I've ever read and which in itself is well worth the price of the book. This is the real-life story of Sedaris' stint as a Macy's SantaLand elf. Sedaris focuses on our collective stupidity, but as always he mixes in just the right amount of self-depreciation to make the piece come off perfectly.

I believe that it was Tom Clancey that said that the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense. The figures in SantaLand Diaries (elves, Santas, and the Great American Public) behave just irrationally enough that the story has to be true. Ironically, aside from being hilariously funny Sedaris uses all of this illogical behavior to give us an interesting look at human nature.

This is a two star book that is saved by a five star story. Buy it and read the last thirty pages.

While all of the stories and essays in Holidays on Ice are good, the standout is clearly "The Santaland Diaries". I always think that if I laugh out loud while I'm reading something, then that by itself makes the book worth the price of purchase. I actually had to put the story down till I pulled myself together enough to resume reading it. "The Santaland Diaries" is a glimpse at our own attitudes and behavior during "the festive holiday season". Perhaps it is a clicheed sentiment (if a cynical opinion can be sentimental), but it is true that during the one time of the year when we should be celebrating peace and love for our fellow man, we behave like looters and scavengers in an orgy of mass consumption, ready to slit the throat of anyone who we percieve is trying to interfere with our quest to have a picture taken with a guy in a Santa suit. Sedaris illustrates this with biting humor and, of course, fiction is never as funny as what happens in real life. By the way, I'm pretty sure the story in "Dinah, the Christmas Whore" actually happened too. Besides, I just love a story with a good whore in it.

To call David of Sedaris's sense of humor unique, might be an understatement. In "Holiday's on Ice." David delivers his wicked black humor with a Christmas theme that will doubtfully ever translate into a classic made for TV movie. These are certainly not heart warming, life affirming tales to read in front of the fire place with a nice glass of eggnog. To Sedaris, Christmas is an odd assortment of disgruntled department store elves, ..., tv executives, and suburbanites struggling with the "true" meaning of Christmas. "Give until it bleeds."
As always Sedaris uses his unique viewpoints, and sometimes personal experiences to create rich and creative stories. "Holidays on Ice" is a collection of his finest holiday based stories. While not as involving and complete as "Naked," or "Me Talk Pretty One Day." "Holidays On Ice" is a nice Sedaris for beginners book. Stories like "Santa Land Diaries,"
and "Dinah, The Christmas Whore" are as involved, and as well told as any other story in his longer works. "Holidays on Ice" proves once again that David Sedaris is one of the finest Humorists, and all around story tellers in America today.