Rating: 
Summary: The "Swiftian essay" ruins this book.
Review: I am a huge fan of David Sedaris, and bought this as a possibly subversive Xmas gift for several of my friends. However, the story that includes the mindless death of an infant is not strong enough to justify the really shocking events of the story. Hey -- I like biting satire, but this story isn't good enough to carry it off. This one story really ruins the book for me -- it's a pretty crass attempt to shock, and it backfires. Sure, Sedaris has the right to write it, but prospective readers have the right to be warned.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes.
Review: Buy this book. My sis was right when she gave it to me; you'll embarass yourself laughing out loud at all the wrong times even if you're not reading it - just THINKING about it! It's affected my writing a great deal, I now look for the humor in EVERYTHING. You'll love it unless you're a buffoon like the guy above who gave it three stars. Did anyone love Barrel Fever? I'm reading it and a bit disappointed so far. Oh well.
Rating:
Summary: A new dimension in wit.
Review: This book was my first introduction to Mr. Sedaris, and I know that I will be reading more from him - soon. His wit is extremely sharp, and entertainingly cynical. He uses the language of that intelligent class clown that made everyone laugh in school, including the teacher. Further, his writing is as frank, honest and comfortable as a letter from a close friend. This book treads the common ground that most readers can easily identify and find much humor with. From the brazen condemnation expressed in "Front Row Center", to the satirical, if not sarcastic "swiftian" essay entitled "christmas is for giving", Sedaris keeps his reader's face suspended in a grin puncuated with out loud knee slapping laughter.
Rating:
Summary: Who says Christmas is sacred- its downright silly at time!
Review: I've been trying to get my husband to read Sedaris ever since I read Barrell Fever. So I bought the cassette of Holidays and played it on a long road trip- he was hooked by the end- nothing can compare to his ascerbic wit- when David is upset that his sister has brought Dinah home- because she is a whore- the mom decides to offer her booze in alphabetical order. Christmas means giving is as Swifitan look at yupppie greed styles.The reviews of Xmas pagents smarts! And one will never look at mall santas the same after hearing of his experiences-- I always laugh so hard I cry when reading or listening to David...
Rating:
Summary: A David Sedaris Christmas!
Review: Thank you, David Sedaris, for making us laugh about Christmas again. I heard about this book on NPR and I plan on reading it every Christmas from now on. Okay, it is dark humored and odd, but if it's well written, and it can talk about a theater critic going on and on about "if I don't see another hat made out of a oatmeal box, it will be too soon." it's my type of book.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely NOT upbeat humor
Review: I've seen this book described as delightful, acerbic, sardonic, charming. It isn't humorous at all, instead it is a heavyhanded bitter collection of short stories by someone who apparently doesn't like the human race very much.
Rating:
Summary: A New Christmas Classic
Review: it's only with the help of writers like David Sedaris that X-mass is bearable. SantaLand Diaries is the best, but one of his new stories, Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol is also devastatingly funny. everyone in my family can expect a copy of this (and probably nothing else) under the tree.
Rating:
Summary: Will leave you HA HA HA not HO HO HO
Review: Most hilarious Christmas tales around. You will never look at Christmas the same after exploring Sedaris's amazingly funny but somewhat dark world. It's a blessing that I read the stories, especially the now classic SANTALAND DIARIES in the end of October to remind myself not to fall into the trap of the Christmas commercialism. Totally refreshing after years years years of overly sentimental and corny holiday tales. I am amazed at Sedaris's guts to write down a lot of things that most of us would rather to keep to ourselves and that makes me realize what a hypocrite I am. You all must simply have this holiday gem!!!
Rating:
Summary: The perfect introduction to a spectacular writer
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: One sure Holiday
Review: This is, as usual, a side-splitting Sedaris book though not as funny as "Naked" or "Me Talk Pretty."The Santaland Diaries" is a glimpse at our own attitudes and behavior during "the festive holiday season". Perhaps it is a clicheed sentiment (if a cynical opinion can be sentimental), but it is true that during the one time of the year when we should be celebrating peace and love for our fellow man, we behave like looters and scavengers in an orgy of mass consumption, ready to slit the throat of anyone who we percieve is trying to interfere with our quest to have a picture taken with a guy in a Santa suit. Sedaris illustrates this with biting humor and, of course, fiction is never as funny as what happens in real life. By the way, I'm pretty sure the story in "Dinah, the Christmas Whore" actually happened too. Besides, I just love a story with a good whore in it. Also recommended: "Bark of the Dogwood" and "Naked."
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