Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: Holidays on Ice

By Sandy Amazeen Oct 10, 2008, 2:36 GMT

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 ...more

Sedaris turns his considerable wit and slightly skewed outlook on the Holidays with six additional short stories, including one never before published that are guaranteed to bring a chuckle or three. Experience the dubious joys of being a Macy’s Christmas elf in the Santaland Diaries where Sedaris discovers how much fun dealing with the public while being dressed in green tights can be. The outrageously funny Six to Eight Black Men demonstrates what happens to Holiday traditions when the language barrier is thrown into the mix. Christmas Means Giving takes one-upmanship to the extreme while Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!! puts an entirely different spin on the dreaded Christmas letter.

Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Sedaris’s updated Holidays on Ice before all the fa-la-la of the season buries you in the mall. His unusual take on the ordinary coupled with the gift of prose allows us mere mortals to enjoy a different version of the mundane.