It's been a while since I read David Sedaris, and I remember really liking 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and 'Naked,' so I figured, hey, it's the holidays, perfect time to crack open this one, right? I couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe Sedaris grew and changed a bit as he got older, or maybe it's me who has grown and changed, but I hated this book. It was mean-spirited and downright cruel multiple times in the early going, and as the parent of a special needs child, I took great offense to his liberal use of slurs against developmentally challenged people.

And look, I get it, it was written a long time ago, cultural attitudes have shifted, fine. But that doesn't make it okay or enjoyable to read. I'm not suddenly going to write off David Sedaris forever, but I definitely won't go back to the well of his older stuff, and this one is going in the trash where it belongs.

From cynical mall elves to the most terrible holiday letter, this holiday-themed short story collection shows David Sedaris at his wackiest–but don’t sorry, it’s still dark and sarcastic, too. One of my favorite ways to get into the holiday spirit, sans the warm-and-fuzzies.

–Emily Wenstrom



from The Best Books We Read In December 2016: http://bookriot.com/2017/01/03/riot-r...

I guess my funny bone is broken or I'm not drunk enough, because after the first story I could not hardly stomach the rest of the stories. My first one star rating. If you are looking for a dark Christmas comedy, "The Stupidest Angel", was in my opinion, head and shoulders better than this mess.

To the tune of “Frosty the Snowman”

Da-vid Se-daris
Was a writer oh-so-droll
With a quirky style and take on life
That will put you on the floor.

Da-vid Se-daris
Writes the weirdest stuff you’ll see
About the Christmas whore and the Macy’s elves
And deathly children’s pageantry.

There must have been some crazy
In the Sedaris family tree
‘Cause David ain’t the only one
Have you seen his sister Amy?

Oh! Da-vid Se-daris!
Can your stories all be true?
It matters not when you write as hot
As in Holidays on Ice!

Holidays on Ice is a collection of short stories and anecdotes taking place around Christmas. Probably because I expected it to be something else entirely (festive and heartwarming), I didn't find this book as funny or witty as many reviews say... I found the author/narrator a bit mean sometimes, and rude. Out of 12 stories, I liked only 3. Not a book I would recommend.

My husband and I listened to the audiobook, as this was the holiday pick for our book club. I wasn’t happy about the selection, as I hadn’t been able to see the other Sedaris book I’d tried all the way through. I thought this would be as dull as I’d found that one to be but, ya know, this wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated. I laughed out loud several times. There were certain stories I could have done without but, overall, it was a decent listening experience.

I had been told this was a very offensive book. I wholeheartedly agree. It is offensive. BUT the satirical stories are clearly meant to offend. If we aren’t appalled by those perspectives, there is something wrong. They didn’t make me think, “Wow, this Sedaris guy really is a jerk!” They only highlighted how absurdly gross stereotypes and prejudices are and demonstrated how awful people who hold those views can be. I think that was the point. While they didn’t necessarily offend in a bad way, there were some stories that I didn’t find enjoyable, humorous, or meaningful at all.

Rating average: 3.08

Individual ratings:

~Santaland Diaries: 2.5 stars

~Seasons Greetings to Our Friends and Family: 3 stars

~Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol: 4 stars

~Based Upon a True Story: 2 stars

~Christmas Means Giving: 4 stars

~Dinah, the Christmas Whore: 2 stars

~Jesus Shaves: 3 stars

~Us and Them: 3.5 stars

~Let it Snow: 3 stars

~Six to Eight Black Men: 4 stars

~The Monster Mash: 3 stars

~The Cow and the Turkey: 3 stars

I feel very torn about this review.

When I originally read this book back in 2010 I remember crying - shaking - with laughter. I enjoyed it immensely and I gave it four stars.

This time around not so much. This time I laughed a grand total of three times and those I would describe more as single barks/snorts of laughter. Now, I want to give it a two star rating, but I'm not sure if this is because I listened to the audiobook this time around, the book hasn't aged well (I was put off significantly by some of the "jokes" that felt lazy and mean), and/or I simply wasn't in the right mood this time. There were several of the stories that I was thinking "oh my god just end already," which I don't think is an experience I've ever had with Sedaris prior to this.

It is truly difficult to overstate just how bad this collection of stories is. I've heard the name David Sedaris and long found the titles of his short story collections to be, well, strange. I really should have stopped at the titles.

This was an Audible Daily Deal just the other day. It was two bucks or something, and I can safely say that that's the worst two bucks or something I've ever spent. I do not exaggerate.

A thief would have more right to my two dollars than David Sedaris' pathetic collection of truly awful short stories. To be fair, I only listened to one of them all the way through, "Santa Land", and then listened to the first five minutes or so of a handful of others. Even that was too much time spent.

This is one of those books that really does make me look through the positive reviews and wonder, "what was George H. smoking when he rated this a five? Really George?"

Yes, a sense of humor is a very personal, even peculiar, thing. After all, there are people out there who find killing people funny. There are other, possibly wackier, people who find David Sedaris funny.

But who are they? One of these stories, "Six to eight black men", sounds like it was recorded in front of an audience. And, yes, people are actually heard ... laughing. Like, several people. What nutty convention had they all just come from?

But really, if you are one of the people who find David Sedaris especially funny, I'd love to hear from you. People are fascinating particularly because they are such odd creatures. My guess is that Sedaris fans are among the oddest.

I was looking forward to reading this as I've never read anything by David Sedaris and I had heard really good things . . . plus I was really in the mood for a light/funny book.

But, ugh, this was awful. His writing did NOTHING for me. In fact, I was rather turned off by his topics and style.

I brought the book to the DMV to read. During the god awful four hours I spent there I couldn't even bring myself to finish the last two short stories. I just sat there—bored out of my mind—because that was more appealing then reading this.

My first foray into David Sedaris territory. I found myself cackling at the beginning of the first story but slowly became less enamored as the tone became condescending, smug, and offensive (seemingly for shock value). The rest of the stories are similarly uneven. I chuckled at parts and was bored at parts. Really a fair rating is about 2 1/2 stars but the enraging omission of half stars forces a round up due to cleverness of some stories. I've heard Me Talk Pretty One Day is the best of his bunch so will try that in the future but probably end there.

*** 3.75 ***

A collection of short stories on different holiday themes. Not really about the holidays, but observations of life around the holidays.

After a somewhat rough start, I found the first story the weakest in the bunch, the second had a bit more to offer, the next were what I have grown to expect from this author. David Sedaris has never been a riotous comedian. He is an acquired taste and his humor has to do with the observations of regular people and their everyday lives, with quite a bit of morbid fascination with tragedy and the absurd ways our brains choose to deal with it as safety mechanisms.

One of the things that I was surprised how much it bothered me, was the use of the word "retarded". I know that at the time this was written, it was in regular use of everyone's vernacular, but I guess I have come to enjoy it being mostly in our past, because it definitely startled me... In the 90's, I remember it being well used in all types of circumstances, particularly on the East Coast, and proudly, but I am glad it's use has tapered down significantly...

Best stories, in my opinion, were the grade school theater reviews, and the "prostitute" friend

3.50. I actually laugh aloud (or snicker to myself) while I read his material, which is rare. These essays were much longer than the ones I had read in Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls but no less enjoyable. Also, this book was Christmas themed, so I got to have a bit of Christmas in the early throes of August. Though, let's be real, Christmas is coming so time to start your shopping now. Sedaris is full of sarcasm, cynicism, and wit, which is what I appreciate the most. He makes fun of things covertly, ironically. Too often I read books where the jokes are can be seen a mile away, where everything must be explained to me as if I am an uncomprehending four year old. In the words of Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 2, "We're not preschool toys, Slinky. We can read." And I do look forward to reading another collection of his essays.