Holidays On Ice

Book No: 3
Title: Holidays on Ice
Author: David Sedaris
Genre: Humor/Essays
Completed: 1/25/09
No. of Pages: 166
Rating: 2.5/5*****

I loved When You are Engulfed in Flames and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Sedaris’ wit, sarcasm and ironic outlook on life, friends and family made me a fan and I am now reading his back catalog. I picked up Holidays on Ice figuring it might be a tonic to the over commercialization of the Christmas Season. I was right and I was wrong. The first story Santaland Diaries was exactly what I was looking for, a skewering of all the things wrong with the mad rush holiday shopping season. It was funny and witty and I knew I was in for a treat. Then I read the next story, which was Greetings to Our Friends and Family, a twisted look at the ubiquitous holiday letter, it was a little too dark and nasty for me. Then I read Christmas Means Giving, a tale of keeping up with the neighbors that turns very grisly. Several of the stories I had read before in Flames and Corduroy, so that was a bit of a disappointment, I didn’t realize all the stories weren’t new. One of the other more memorable stories was Dinah, the Christmas Whore which was quite funny and rather touching. Of course it was a story involving David’s family, where I find his humor at its best. I also really enjoyed Jesus Saves, a hilarious story of David’s French class where everyone of a different nationality tries to explain Easter. So overall this collection was very uneven and it actually took me a month to read this very slight book, because parts of it were just too dark and a little shocking for me.