The Santaland Diaries / Season's Greetings: 2 Plays Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
1998 stapled-wraps SOFTCOVER
Paperback: 54 pages
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; 59704th edition (October 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0822216310
ISBN-13: 978-0822216315
Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 5.2 x 7.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (568 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #178,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #37 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Playwriting #61 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Dramas & Plays > Comedy #224 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Comedy
I read the original version of this collection a few years ago and really enjoyed it so I jumped at the chance of reading the stories again and the new additional stories! The new stories are definitely a welcome addition!Of the original stories, The SantaLand Diaries starts the collection off on a hilarious note. You get to read bout the inner workings of being a department store Christmas elf. The crazy santas, elves and customers! Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!! starts off innocently enough as a family holiday letter and quickly takes a turn for the hilariously insane, like a lot of Sedaris's stories.Of the new stories, Jesus Shaves is by far my favorite. It had me crying from laughing so hard. I don't want to give anything away, so just trust me, it's hilarious. Six to Eight Black Men was also hilarious along the same line. Definitely learned things I didn't know about how other countries celebrate to holidays.I wasn't totally fond of The Monster Mash, about a trip to a medical examiner's office, it spoke to my weak stomach and my stomach said no thank you. But it still had it's funny moments.All in all this is a hilarious holiday collection and the new stories are a welcome addition helping add additional holidays to this collection.
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.
To say that David Sedaris doesn't see the world the way that others do is a grievous understatement. He finds equal humor in the bizarre and the mundane. His wit can be both razor sharp and gentle as feather. He writes and says things that maybe you've thought about before and if you haven't thought about them before you'll certainly give them plenty of thought afterwords.Sedaris gift for storytelling is on display at its finest in this audio collection of holiday-themed stories. The most famous is, of course, "The Santaland Diaries", in which Sedaris relates in hillarious detail his experiences working as an elf at Macy's Santaland in New York. This piece is an American classic which should be compulsory reading for anyone who has worked a retail job during the holidays, not to mention anyone who has ever shopped a store during the holidays. Almost as good is "Front Row Center WIth Thaddeus Bristol" which skewers both a pompous theater critic and the sometimes attrocious children's holiday plays he's reviewing.In all, this collection contains six stories read by Sedaris himself, his sister Amy and actress Ann Magnuson. The different voices work well to set the tone for each story over the course of the tape, and the variety helps sustain interest which can be an issue with single reader audio programs.For many of us, the holidays mean laughter and tears. David Dedaris understands this and has given the world six of the finest tools with which to cope.
This book was a really fantastic collection of 6 short stories regarding the holiday season. I had heard so much about David Sedaris and what a talented satirical writer he was, and I was much impressed by his ability to parody the American publics love/hate relationship during the holiday season. His life as an elf in the Macys's shopping store in New York had me laughing out loud. And the upbeat Christmas letter that includes the introduction of a Vietamese stepchild was hilarious.I finished the book in two days of light reading and realized the author is truly dark and twisted but extremely talented. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is next on my list. I guarantee you'll like this book, but just to add to the fervor of the writing, I suggest you read it a week before Christmas during your most hellish and frantic points of your life; it'll add to the hilarity of your situation.
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