… I’m getting to this a little late, but like many a blogger before me, I’ve decided to use this space as a way to sort of annotate the books I’m reading, for my own memory and to possibly generate discussion. My goal is to read about a book a week, or 4 books per month (allowing for those weeks when I barely begin something and the other weeks when I zip right through something else).

I finished 2006 by struggling for way too long with Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica, which wasn’t because the book was particularly difficult or dense. I just couldn’t quite get into it. holidaysonice.jpg So, to kickstart 2007, I decided to go with a book that would be kinda like candy: Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris. I’d read a few of Sedaris’ stories before, and I expected these holiday essays to be quick enough, funny enough, and timely enough (I started reading on New Year’s Day) to move me through the short little volume.

I was right… mostly. The stories are pretty funny. In fact, the first story, “SantaLand Diaries,” was freakin’ hilarious. In it, Sedaris describes a holiday season spent working as an elf at Macy’s. He describes shepherding families through the maze leading up to Santa — tricking them into getting out of line to chase after celebrities, pushing children into corner’s to puke, and even finding a mother telling her son to pee up on a fake tree. I found it interesting that here you’ve got this brilliant writer, who now commands upwards of $50 a pop for live readings, dressed in a goofy elfin outfit and going by the name of “Crumpet.” You gotta do what you gotta do. Meanwhile, the people going through the lines are shameless about the way they treat the elves, Santa, and even their own kids. Sedaris describes kids screaming & crying with fear in front the big guy in the red suit and parents chiding them, forcing smiles for the all-important photo. All too real. And kind of sad, and that’s what makes it so damn funny.

The rest of the essays, however… not so much. Each was good for a chuckle hear and there, but none had quite sting of reality as the first. Some may have been better if Sedaris hadn’t gone so far out. For instance, the second peice, entitled “Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!”, is in the form of a mock holiday letter from the Dunbar family. The Mother Dunbar’s suburban housewife rattle is at first very familiar. I could just hear some friend of the family going on and on and on about how great everything is, only to slowly unfold how shitty everything really is. But this just went way to far… ending with a baby being killed, Mother Dunbar going on trial, and a plea to the letter reader to show up at a specic day and time to provide character testimony. It was humorous, sort of, but the whole thing felt like it went on way too long. There was too much build up, too many details, for a fairly unrealistic payoff. Considering most of Sedaris’ essays derive from finding humor in the pain of reality, I thought this unreality paled in comparison. I’d rather see something believable ridiculous, something that actually happened. What’s more, the Christmas letter format didn’t seem make much sense either… who would write such a long letter?? If you really needed character witnesses, you wouldn’t send them a Season’s Greeting letter just days before the trial date… yes yes suspension of disbelief… but why? As a writer, I’ve often been cautioned that the way I get into a story, the initial inspiring impulse, isn’t always the most lasting. To me, this read as though Sedaris was initially struck with the idea of the letter, in which everything that was supposed to be wonderful has gone awry; but he came out with a much longer story that didn’t suit — or need — that format.

On the whole, Holidays on Ice was quick, light, and enjoyable. At its worst it made me smile and at its best it had me doubled over. From what I’ve heard from other’s who’ve read more of Sedaris’ work, this isn’t his best. And I’d believe, but it was definitely good for a little post-holiday refreshment.