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Holidays on Ice

david sedaris

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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).

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1,1997

This edition

Format
176 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 1998 by Little Brown \u0026 Co (P)
ISBN
9780316191296
ASIN
0316191299
Language
English

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About the author

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david sedaris

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David Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries". He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
35(35%)
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33(33%)
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32(32%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
UberElitistClub
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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One of my most anticipated Christmas traditions is to read David Sedaris’s Holidays on Ice to perk up my Christmas cheer and get me in the holiday mood. David Sedaris is laugh out loud hilarious, as usual, when explaining certain holiday traditions to others, cultural holiday differences, and chronicling the diary of a Macy’s elf. Although on the paperback edition of the book there is a drink on the rocks looking mighty inviting, I would not sip anything while reading this mirthful collection of seasonal tales, unless you want to end up spitting it out mid-chortle. We all need a satirical reminder to keep our sense of humor around the holidays!
-Lisanne E.
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EFGBlue2000
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I have enjoyed listening to David Sedaris on NPR and reading his books for a long time, but I question the wisdom of the choice of this for my Book club's next selection. I am sure that it can be viewed by some as a "fun" read, but I would prefer something with more substance for an interesting discussion. Perhaps it is also because I have never leaned toward summer, or beach reading or holiday reads.

As I suggested prior to reading the book, I did not enjoy reading this, despite its brevity of 166 pages. I have heard the selection about "Department Store Elves" on NPR's This American Life several times and have chuckled each time. However, the book's tone of mockery of others and its attempts at satyr struck me painfully flat.
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Classic525
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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David Sedaris is messed up! I can't even begin to tell you, you'll just have to read these Christmas stories on crack and find out for yourself.

Holidays on Ice is a collection of six short stories all wrapped up in a black Christmas bow. They are dark, sarcastic, evil, irreverent, funny, real, revealing, and sweet.

SantaLand Diaries recounts Sedaris's experience working as a Christmas elf in Santaland at Macy's in Manhattan. He encounters overzealous, self-centered, and racist parents. He flirts with a fellow elf to learn later that he's a bit of an elf-tease ("Snowball just leads elves on, elves and Santas. He is playing a dangerous game.") He observes human nature in all of it's narcissistic, misguided glory.

Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family is a suburban mom's Christmas form letter. She updates her loved ones on her trials of the past year spiraling into a dark (O.K., pitch black) and unexpected ending.

Dinah, the Christmas whore is by far my favorite story. "From this moment on, the phrase ho ho ho would take on a whole new meaning..." It reminds us that there are more layers to people than meets the eye...including moms, sisters, and prostitutes. In a style specific to Sedaris, it celebrates family connection.

Front Row Center is one man's review of local children's Christmas productions. Mean, biting, and funny. Sedaris says what he wants to, and we don't really care if he's kidding or not.

Based Upon a True Story/Christmas Means Giving go to the extreme to satirize man's greed, arrogance, and need to compete. His in-your-face story telling makes you want to be a better person...lest you're the subject of his next parody.

This doesn't deserve five stars, or even four. It's great fun, but short. Sedaris is definetely twisted and talented, but I can't give this the same amount of stars that I would dish out to a true classic novel.
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Pairedecar09
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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me when the ONLY job Indeed has recommended to me is as a Santa despite the 50k of debt I acquired to get a degree
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Stadtfeldi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Listened to the audio of this which I’d recommend. Great holiday read… light and funny.
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Kuchisake-Onna
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Mean and Misanthropic.

I do not like mean-spirited sardonic wit. For the most part, the author’s cynical comments are derisive, insulting, and misanthropic. There are few (four to be exact) clever and funny essays, but black humor predominates the essays, much to my disappointment if not disgust.

SANTALAND DIARIES is by far the most humorous, and is it positioned as the first essay in the collection. Good thing, too. Reading it first whet my appetite in anticipation for a delightful read for the remainder of the essays. Sadly, that was not to be. I didn’t laugh out loud in ANY of the remaining essays. However, three essays are noteworthy, combining humor with thoughtful reflection: SIX TO EIGHT BLACK MEN, US AND THEM and SANTA SHAVES. The remaining essays? Metaphorically clever essays falter or fail to deliver. Others are downright ugly.

Although this is an older publication, the author is new to me. While awaiting for his new release, CALYPSO, I decided to read anything of his currently available. I certainly hope CALYPSO is worthy of the hype. HOLIDAYS ON ICE certainly is not.
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muticere
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A short audio compilation of stories published elsewhere and some odd fiction. Just okay for me. Two were brilliant,but I’ve already heard them. So, it’s a no.
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mae-lee
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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There was some 5-star stuff here. Santaland Diaries is a classic. The play form, at the Horizon Theater has been our family Atlanta Christmas Eve tradition for years (we are Jewish, but whatever) and its always a blast. And there is other 5-star material here (6 to 8 Black Men springs to mind), all of which I have heard on other recordings. But there is also some terrible stuff here. Basically, if its based on Sedaris' real life, its going to be good, if its fiction its going to be bad and really offensive. Now I am hard to offend, really, but the constant and casual use of the word "retard" as an insult got me, as did a punchline about a baby being murdered in a washing machine and dryer. and the unapologetically racist depictions of characters. Also the stories are simply not very good. So the 2.5 is an average, rounded down for hideous racism and general meanness. I really love Sedaris, I have a history of 5-star reads from him, but you can skip this one.
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