Leave a Comment / Reviews / By admin
As a humor essay aficionado, I love David Sedaris. Me Talk Pretty One Day, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, etc. So when I spotted Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris on audiobook at my library, I jumped on it. It didn’t disappoint. It also didn’t surprise. Sedaris does what Sedaris always does: delivers borderline blasphemous, biting satire with his trademark snark. The holiday themed collection of essays is uncomfortable at times. But darn it all, it’s funny.
My Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris book review:
Just so you know – I could get an affiliate commission if you link from my site and buy a product. Hopefully, I’ll accumulate enough affiliate commission to buy myself a coffee someday! Not Starbucks or anything like that. But maybe a plain small coffee from a gas station on the edge of town.
Holidays On Ice Summary
David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice isn’t exactly a new batch of stories. It’s a curated sampler of some of his greatest holiday-themed hits, repackaged in one convenient collection – themed around Christmas (and Easter, and Halloween.) It was originally published in 1997 and re-released in 2008.
The bulk of the book circles around Christmas, most famously with Santaland Diaries, his now-iconic account of working as a department store elf. But Sedaris also veers into Easter with Jesus Shaves (a French language classroom discussion of the resurrection that’s hilariously blasphemous.). The holiday collection is cynical, irreverent, and strangely festive.
Core Essays
- SantaLand Diaries — Sedaris’ now-famous account of working as a Macy’s Christmas elf. Cynical, hilarious, and probably the reason most people pick this book up.
- Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!! — A Christmas newsletter gone very, very wrong. (Think brag-letter meets Jerry Springer.)
- Dinah, the Christmas Whore — A story from Sedaris’ youth, involving his sister and an impromptu rescue mission.
- Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol — A parody of a theater critic reviewing children’s Christmas pageants as if they were Broadway.
- Based Upon a True Story — A televangelist delivers a sermon so over-the-top it makes the Grinch look tame.
- Christmas Means Giving — Two wealthy families turn holiday charity into a competition, with predictably awful results.
In Expanded Editions
- Jesus Shaves — A French class discussion about Easter traditions spirals into absurdity.
- Us and Them — A Fourth of July story about watching (and judging) the TV-free neighbors.
- Let It Snow — A short recollection about being locked out of the house with his siblings during a snowstorm.
- The Incomplete Quad — A college tale involving odd roommates.
More Sedaris book reviews!
When You are Engulfed in Flames
Check out some of my favorite humor essay collections here!
Now onto the rating! Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris book review:
My innovative system for rating humor books is explained here
Wholesomeness Score: 2/5
It’s David Sedaris. This isn’t a Hallmark Christmas story. Holidays on Ice comes with swears, sex, and sacrilege, although not in a graphic way. A 1 out of 5 for Wholesomeness should be reserved for extraordinarily unwholesome carnage.
Hilarity Score: 5/5
Santaland Diaries had me laughing most. Imagine Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf, but swapped with a jaded, foul-mouthed department store elf.
And this story (not the exact reading from the audiobook):
Overall Book Awesomeness Score: 5/5
I liked the concept: A collection of holiday-themed Sedaris-isms curated into one stocking full of mischief and misery.
Things I liked:
- Sarcasm. Deep, deep sarcasm.
- I listened to the audiobook. One essay was of a live reading Dutch Christmas story. Hilariously inapropriate!
Things I didn’t like:
- It wasn’t all Christmas and New Years. He mixed in some Easter and Halloween. It’s not that I didn’t like that. I just wanted a consistent Christmas theme. That’s probably a bit too picky, right?
- Plent of triggers in this one: Ableism (discriminatory language against physically or mentally disabled people.) Jokes about child abuse and domestic violence. Racist & Xenophobic themes. Note – these topics are approached in a “tongue-in-cheek” satirical way by Sedaris. But the content could be considered offensive by…well…lots of reasonable people.
Conclusion: Final Thoughts on Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice is NOT the book you pick up when you’re craving warm fuzzies and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. This is Sedaris. That means swears, sharp edges, and Christmas spirit that’s been run over by a reindeer. It’s clever, biting, and just wrong enough to make you laugh while also wondering if you should feel bad about laughing.
If you’re looking for holiday cheer, try Hallmark. If you’re looking for holiday mischief, this one will be perfect.
What is your favorite David Sedaris book? Comment below!
