With Thanksgiving meals fully-eaten and deals from Black Friday and Cyber Monday invading shoppers’ wallets, the 2011 holiday season is in full swing. Many people wait for December all year and enjoy blasting Christmas music on their iPods, seeing the Nutcracker year after year, and volunteering to sell Christmas trees for their local Rotary club. For others, the next four weeks can include some of the most anxiety-producing days of the year, with family invading their homes, crazy tourists accosting them at their seasonal jobs, and competitive neighbors who just have to have the best holiday light displays.

In his book Holidays on Ice, the always-funny David Sedaris captures the quirks of the holiday season as well as the funny behaviors of shoppers, family members, and eager neighbors. An easy, quick read for the plane ride home or a brief break from family-bonding, the many stories in Holidays on Ice (first published in 1998, with new stories added in this republished edition) poke fun at American traditions with smart writing that walks a fine line between offensive and hilarious.

The first chapter, “SantaLand Diaries”, is about Sedaris’ experience working as an elf at Macy’s in New York City. Though it may sound like a simple job, being an elf in Macy’s SantaLand requires quick thinking, creative word-choice, and the ability to function under pressure from pushy parents. Job titles in SantaLand include: Entrance Elf, Bridge Elf, Train Elf, Maze Elf, Island Elf, Magic Window Elf, Santa Elf, Photo Elf, Usher Elf, Cash Register Elf, Runner Elf, and Exit Elf. And any one of these includes interactions with children and parents who are overly excited to have their picture taken with Santa…to be delivered next August.

Other gems from this collection of work include a holiday update letter from a neighbor who recently went insane, a review of elementary school Christmas plays, a story about overly competitive neighbors who literally donate their vital organs to out-give one another, and few chapters on other holidays including Halloween and Easter.

What makes Sedaris’ stories so well-written, however, is not just his satirical look at both intended and unintended holiday traditions but his inclusion of personal recollections from his childhood that are not only relatable but express the value of family. “Let It Snow” and “Us and Them” offer glimpses into Sedaris’ childhood that show how similar a child’s thinking is to an adult’s. “Dinah, the Christmas Whore” offers a tale of how a family can come together under unusual circumstances to help out a stranger in need. It’s these stories that bring depth to the book and underscore the importance of the values emphasized around Christmas, such as giving and appreciating one’s family.

If you’ve haven’t read a book by Sedaris before, this is a great one to introduce you to his style of writing and to both his autobiographical and his fictional stories. And it’s certainly a good read if you’ve enjoyed Sedaris’ other books before and need a little a more cheer this holiday season.

Holiday on Ice
David Sedaris