''Holidays on Ice'' is a

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

collection of essays and stories about

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, some new and some previously published, by

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris ( ; born December 26, 1956) 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 col ...

. Sedaris was named by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' as one of the funniest writers alive. This is one of his first works, which was subsequently re-released with additional new passages. The most popular essay is "Santaland Diaries", which is Sedaris' take on working as an elf at a department store grotto during Christmas season. "Holidays on Ice" was re-released in October 2008 by publisher, Little, Brown & Company. The book has 176 pages.

SantaLand Diaries

" SantaLand Diaries" recounts Sedaris' experiences working as an

elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

department store.The Funniest Elf
Retrieved 17 April 2013 The essay was originally broadcast on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and is also included in Sedaris' first book '' Barrel Fever''.

Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!

A Christmas letter from the Dunbar clan detailing matriarch Mrs. Dunbar's slow descent into insanity during the holiday season—belied by her insistently cheerful tone—as she is forced to cope with the discovery of her husband's infidelity, the resultant prostitute stepdaughter left in their care, and her drug-addict daughter's premature pregnancy. Also first published in '' Barrel Fever''.

Dinah, the Christmas Whore

Sedaris recalls the Christmas that he was taken on a late-night ride downtown by his sister, Lisa, to rescue a prostitute from her abusive boyfriend. This story was also published in Sedaris' 1997 book ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

''.

Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol

A review of the local grade school's Christmas pageant.

Based on a True Story

Where a member of the media begs a church congregation for information on a heartbreaking story.

Christmas Means Giving

Where battling neighbors try to outdo each other with holiday generosity.

References

External links

Holidays on Ice on GoogleBooks
{{David Sedaris 1997 non-fiction books 1997 short story collections American essay collections American short story collections Little, Brown and Company books Works by David Sedaris Christmas essays Christmas short story collections

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