2024 the best of me david sedaris review

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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 favoritesas 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").

No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called "one of the funniest writers alive" (Economist).

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Browse More from David Sedaris

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (October 20, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316078913
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316078917
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.95 x 0.65 x 7 inches
Reviewer: T. K.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The perfect introduction to a spectacular writer
Review: The holidays bring out something truly special in David Sedaris, making this more a "best of" than a mere holiday book. It's simply brilliant and, as many reviewers have experienced, one of those rare books that may cause you to laugh out loud in spite of yourself. Its only flaw is that it's a short book, but in content it's a giant.Avid NPR listeners will instantly recognize the first essay in this book, "Santaland Diaries"; the author's reading of that story is their single most requested encore. His description of becoming a Christmas Elf at Macy's is a true guilty pleasure; scathingly unkind and screamingly funny. If you ever held an undignified job, this is somehow your story - even if you never (pardon the pun) stooped so low as to play an elf.Sedaris writes like a post-modern Mark Twain, with a dry and piercing wit that drips with charm and cynicism in equal measure. His is the kind of writing that makes me go back to re-read a sentence, a paragraph, even a whole story hoping to savor some particular gem I only wish I'd written. His tone is often dark, even bleak, but there's a wry quality in his stories that lets you know he's really doing it all for effect - setting you up for an even bigger laugh because you know he's enjoying every minute of telling his sad, hilarious stories.Get in on his story now so you can savor the feeling of waiting impatiently for his next book - and there's no better way to start than to read Holidays on Ice.

Reviewer: BettieGrace
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Unique, Enjoyable, Sometimes Funny
Review: I'd been wanting to try a book by David Sedaris. This one popped as a book club Christmas selection. I expected to laugh out loud a lot but it was more like a chuckle here and there. But....I couldn't put the book down. I was really captured by his story telling of some very surreal and disturbing topics. I winced at some of the insensitive terms he used but I kept reading because the stories were overall entertaining and I felt some of the language was still somewhat tolerated at the time he wrote the book. The first story about his experience as a department store elf is great. I also liked the story he told about his sister's coworker.

Reviewer: Mermaid Love
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Didn't age well!
Review: This book seemed hilarious years ago, but unfortunately it’s so cringy now that’s it’s painful. I get that being politically incorrect is part of Sedaris’ shtick, but except for one story it’s just uncomfortably wrong. I was so embarrassed to share it with my family during the holidays! It’s dated & not in a good way.

Reviewer: Andrew McCaffrey
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A mixed drink
Review: On the Friday after Thanksgiving 2003, a news report circulated telling us of a woman trampled nearly to death during a mad rush in an early morning sale at her local Wal-Mart. Underneath her bruised and broken body was discovered a sad cardboard box containing an ultra-cheap DVD player, which the store managers kindly put on hold for her.The above story is something that isn't a million miles away from the non-fiction Christmas stories told in HOLIDAYS ON ICE. All these stories have the ring of truth about them even (as in the anecdote I mentioned above) if one suspects that the facts may have been somewhat embellished. It's their inherent believability that makes them funny. But once David Sedaris moves towards outright fiction, his stories are less successful. It feels as though he is constantly trying to outdo himself, making the stories more and more outrageous for fear that the mundane may not be as funny as the shocking.In any case, here are some quick comments on each of the five essays that make up this short collection:"SantaLand Diaries" -- David Sedaris entertains us with his stories of working a terrible job as one of Santa's elves in a Macy's department store. This is the highlight of the collection - a very funny piece indeed. People are funny to Sedaris. From the utterly bizarre people who take on the role of Santa and his elves to the equally strange people who show up to wander through SantaLand, all of them provide us with many laughs."Season's Greetings to Our Friends And Family!!!" -- Not one of the more successful efforts in this collection. Oh, the initial idea is amusing enough, but the execution leaves much to be desired. In short, this is a parody of one of those over the top generic Christmas letters than some people will mail out to everyone they know in an attempt to compress an entire year's worth of news into a single newsletter-sized message. The essay is funnier when it's mocking the little things that go into these communications (the overuse of multiple explanation points, the disturbingly flowery language), but less funny when it tries to tell it's story."Dinah, The Christmas Whore" -- The story of the Sedaris family taking in a lady of the evening. This essay is rather short, and ends up feeling more sweet than funny (though it's definitely amusing)."Front Row Center With Thaddeus Bristol" -- An even shorter essay than the previous offering, but it is hilarious. Yes, one of the more annoying things about the holidays is being dragged to the inevitable children's production of some Christmas themed story. Or, to be more specific, an adult directing a group of unenthusiastic children in a horribly boring play. Sedaris perfectly captures the deep, deep horror that each self-aware member of the audience will experience if forced to attend one of these ghastly affairs."Based Upon a True Story" -- Yikes. I didn't care for this one at all. An amoral television producer comes to a small town on Christmas to ask permission for the filming of a Based On A True Story TV Movie. This might have been much more amusing had Sedaris not beaten us over the head with his satire."Christmas Means Giving" -- Again, a fictional story, and, again, not as successful as the true-life memoirs. This details the escalation that two families undergo in their attempt to become the biggest present-giver in the neighborhood. Sedaris abandons any attempt of subtlety and instead goes for over-the-top laughs.As you may have gathered, all of the stories in this small collection revolve around the holidays, and there's a lot of comedy fruit to be harvested from that time of year. But for as many as he successfully picks, he bludgeons others to pulp. It was a short collection so even the uninteresting pieces don't drag on for too long. HOLIDAYS ON ICE makes for a handy antidote to anyone feeling overwhelmed by the "holiday cheer" that comes around without fail every year at this time.

Reviewer: Yolanda S. Bean
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Merry Christmas!
Review: After finishing a depressing novel, I know that I can always rely on Sedaris to bring a smile to my face. I just knew it would be a fast and fun read! I love David Sedaris' books, and though I knew this collection included some essays that are published elsewhere, I really looked forward to the new essays. I was a little disappointed that the three new essays were fiction, but they are still very funny. I just prefer the stories about his family, like "Dinah, the Christmas Whore," but I really did enjoy "Front Row and Center with Thaddeus Bristol" quite a bit! I hear there is another, more recently updated version of this book out and now and it has even more new material, so I will have to get around to picking that up!

Reviewer: amberfox
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Bought this having heard David Sedaris on the radio - 5.30 in the morning and a brilliant beginning to the day as I start off laughing. This has only just arrived and have read only the first five pages but know that it'll be a fun read. Yes his wit can be sarcastic but often poignant, I can hear his voice as I read; so glad I bought this.

Reviewer: Y
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Intended as a gift but arrived torn

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Dark comedy at its best.

Reviewer: margaret ewing
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved this book and gave my other copy away. It is one of the funniest books I have read especially the Christmas letter which mocks our whole culture of "who has more fun, better kids, better trips, etc. etc. than anyone else". the book is a collection we all need to re-read at least once/year.

Reviewer: South London bloke
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have read several of his books in the last few months of lockdown, and I really enjoyed them. However this one is in part, printed in another of his books, where he recounts his exprerience working as an elf in a department store. These are funny tales, but were reproduced in the book as well. Other than that I did like the book.