Santaland Diaries
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Product Description
Review
'This is a man who could capture your heart and lift your spirits while reading out the ingredients of a rice cake.' Observer 'His best, funniest, most satisfying book.' Time Out 'Sedaris writes with a gentle but unfailing acuity and a keen eye for t
Product Description
Santaland Diaries collects six of David Sedaris's most profound Christmas stories into one slender volume perfect for use as a last-minute coaster or ice-scraper. This drinking man's companion can be enjoyed by the warmth of a raging fire, the glow of a brilliantly decorated tree, or even in the back seat of a police car. It should be read with your eyes, felt with your heart, and heard only when spoken to. It should, in short, behave much like a book. And oh, what a book it is!
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First Sentence
I was in a coffee shop looking through the want ads when I read, "Macy's Herald Square, the largest store in the world, has big opportunities for outgoing, fun-loving people of all shapes and sizes who want more than just a holiday job! Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I was in a coffee shop looking through the want ads when I read, "Macy's Herald Square, the largest store in the world, has big opportunities for outgoing, fun-loving people of all shapes and sizes who want more than just a holiday job! Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is such a great book, David Sedaris never fails to make me laugh out loud on the tube! However, learn from my mistake - I asked for both The Santaland Diaries and Holidays on Ice for Christmas and it turns out they're exactly the same book, just with different titles, so don't buy both!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read and enjoyed other books by David Sedaris which is why I bought `Santaland Diaries' which is short book made up of a couple of typical memoir-type stories and a couple of short pieces of fiction:
`Santaland Diaries' recalls the time Sedaris spent as an elf during one Christmas at Macy's. Sedaris puts his own spin on the revolting stream of families coming to visit Santa and how he attemped to make life more interetsing for himself during his time in this mind-numbing job! (I especially enjoyed his thoughts about those families who insist of photographing and video taping every minute of the `experience')
`Season's Greeting's to Our Friends and Family!!!' is a pastiche of a round-robin letter (probably more common in America) that has a dark twist and I felt was one of the weakest of the stories, along with the next piece `Dinah, the Christmas Whore,' which seemed like a bit of a filler.
`Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,' was better and was written as if a theatre critic was writing a serious critique of nativity plays. There were some seriously funny lines in this story;
`Pointing to an overstuffed crate that served as a manger, one particularly insufficient wise man proclaimed, `A child is bored.'
Yes, well, so was this adult.'
`Based on a True Story' was a short piece written as if a television executive was giving a sermon. More great one-liners.
Lastly the collection includes, `Christmas Means Giving' another great piece of black humour.
I quite enjoyed the time spect reading this (very) short collection but I couldn't really work out why it had been released on it's own. The stories were all loosely based on Christmas but didn't leave me feeling Christmassy and weren't the best examples of Sedaris's writing. If you haven't read anything by him before, you might be better off giving this one a miss and reading `Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denin' instead.
Ok, just not great.
`Santaland Diaries' recalls the time Sedaris spent as an elf during one Christmas at Macy's. Sedaris puts his own spin on the revolting stream of families coming to visit Santa and how he attemped to make life more interetsing for himself during his time in this mind-numbing job! (I especially enjoyed his thoughts about those families who insist of photographing and video taping every minute of the `experience')
`Season's Greeting's to Our Friends and Family!!!' is a pastiche of a round-robin letter (probably more common in America) that has a dark twist and I felt was one of the weakest of the stories, along with the next piece `Dinah, the Christmas Whore,' which seemed like a bit of a filler.
`Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,' was better and was written as if a theatre critic was writing a serious critique of nativity plays. There were some seriously funny lines in this story;
`Pointing to an overstuffed crate that served as a manger, one particularly insufficient wise man proclaimed, `A child is bored.'
Yes, well, so was this adult.'
`Based on a True Story' was a short piece written as if a television executive was giving a sermon. More great one-liners.
Lastly the collection includes, `Christmas Means Giving' another great piece of black humour.
I quite enjoyed the time spect reading this (very) short collection but I couldn't really work out why it had been released on it's own. The stories were all loosely based on Christmas but didn't leave me feeling Christmassy and weren't the best examples of Sedaris's writing. If you haven't read anything by him before, you might be better off giving this one a miss and reading `Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denin' instead.
Ok, just not great.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a hilarious book. It made me laugh and laugh. That is the uniqueness of the "Holidays on Ice" book by David Sedaris. You may want to pity the characters, yet they are amusing in the way they deal with situations in the stories. It is easy for us to relate to the characters, because we deal with people like them in our everyday lives. The characters remind me of those in The Usurper and Other Stories. I can understand why many people love this book too. The smooth writing, fabulous descriptions, amazing dialogue and gripping pacing are the elements that made this story an accomplished piece of writing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ok ish
Bought this after hearing David Sedaris on Radio 4 which I found very funny. Book was okay and some very funny moments but wouldn't rush out and buy any more.
Published 1 month ago by little green
David Sedaris books
These items were delivered quickly and were packaged well. They were presents - one of which was requested after hearing Radio 4's slot in the morning. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mrs. Tracey Stephenson
Great piece of writing
Sedaris has a pithy, observant style and weaves his stories around puns and observations of the absurdities of real life. Read more
Published 24 months ago by KingMcKong
Funny enough
Santaland is funny. The other short stories here are also funny but not as funny. David Sedaris has an acute and slightly wonky view of the World which sometimes catches the reader... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Oddboy
excellent book
"santaland diaries" is an excellent book however it is the exact same book as "holidays on ice" which i purchased at the same time. Read more
Published on 2 April 2010 by Douglas Leary
Laugh out loud funny
As a rule I am not a fan of short stories but these seasonal gems had me laughing out loud. Wickedly dark and cruel they are the perfect antidote to an over-the-top commerical... Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by Hayles
Fantastic
The book arrived in excellent condition and the delivery was extremely quick. I would definitely buy from this seller again!
Published on 28 Oct 2009 by rnsc26
Bit self indulgent but funny nonetheless
I enjoyed this thin, amusing book. Had never hear of the author but the cover picture grabbed me. The Macy's santa experience reminded me of a time I sold men's underwear and the... Read more
Published on 28 July 2008 by Swanky Rio
Really disappointing
Having thoroughly enjoyed Dress your children and Me talk Pretty and Naked I ordered The Santaland book. I must say I was really disappointed. It is really bald and hollow. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2006 by G. Towler
Gripping
This is a hilarious book. It made me laugh and laugh. That is the uniqueness of the "Holidays on Ice" book by David Sedaris. Read more
Published on 4 April 2005 by Edwin
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