Book Review: *Holidays on Ice* by David Sedaris

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Back of the book blurb: David Sedaris’s beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as 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”).

She is Too Fond of Books’ Review:  Sit down with a glass of egg nog (or your favorite holiday drink) and read Holidays on Ice to yourself, or aloud with friends.  It is hysterical, laugh-out-loud funny, and a great antidote to the many treacly sweet holiday stories and bright twinkling lights of the season.

Sedaris’ stories run the gamut from slight exaggerations of the truth to the clear hyperbole.  They are written as he would deliver them on stage or in a radio address – with dead-pan wit.

My favorite stories are those that are based somewhat on a real experience.  These include “SantaLand Diaries,” chronicling Sedaris’ season as a Macy’s elf; “Let it Snow,” in which a mother locks her kids out of the house after 5 snow days off from school; “Dinah the Christmas Whore,” which covers everything from the dullness of working at a cafeteria-style restaurant to his excitement at meeting a rather unusual character.  When describing this woman running in high heels:

[she] proceeded to totter down the street on what amounted to a pair of stilts.  It was an awkward, useless style of walking, and with each step she ran her fingers through the air as if she were playing a piano.

Oh, that struck me as so funny!  I’ve seen that walk, that “air piano” as women hurry along; I never knew how to describe it until now!

Here’s a great video with Sedaris reading from “Six to Eight Black Men,” about Christmas traditions in the Netherlands:

and an out-take from “SantaLand Diaries”:

So, pick up the book for yourself or a friend this holiday season … you know you want to!

It’s also available in audiobook format, unabridged and read by the author. I think I’d laugh through the entire book … none of my usual multi-tasking while listening to Sedaris perform this:

When is the last time you laughed out loud?