Meredith's review
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Bah. Needless to say, this should not be your introduction to Sedaris. This book consists of six-or-so stories; many of them had already been published in his other books, but are combined here to fit a holiday-themed collection. The first chapter, an original, is the strongest of the new additions, relating Sedaris' short-lived job as a Christmas elf (that man has held some really weird jobs). In a couple of chapters, Sedaris moves away from personal recollection and experiments with fiction short stories. Usually my chief complaint with authors like Sedaris or Burroughs is that they should stop putting out autobiographical novels or short story collections, since it's an endless rehashing of one theme, which seems to necessarily get watered-down as all the good stories get taken. However, Sedaris tries to do this in these chapters and they are the weakest of the group. So...maybe he should just stick with the autobiography. In sum: read Naked or Me Talk Pretty One Day. You'll enjoy i...more
