I absolutely love "The Talent Family" - as Amy and David Sedaris have called themselves. I have a few of David's books, which are wry and funny and sometimes tragic in a non-sentimental way.
Around Christmas, there are two books that are always on my nightstand: an old collection of Christmas stories that was owned by my great aunt, and David Sedaris' "Holidays On Ice". Included in his book is "Santaland Diaries", a story about his time working as an elf at Macy's in New York during the holidays. It's not exactly your traditional feel-good Christmas story ... but it's honest, and imparts many emotions and realities of the holiday season.
A recording of Sedaris' reading a shortened version of "Santaland Diaries" is played every year on NPR (RealAudio, about 7 minutes). It's a tradition for me and Scott now.
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I agree, Matt. David Sedaris is a very funny man. And, his sister, Amy...OMG!
I remember one of Andrew's and my trips to Chicago a few years ago, I was driving and Andrew was reading to me from "Holidays on Ice". I laughed myself almost to tears for most of the trip.
It's so funny that you mention that book because I bought several copies (they're so little and cute!) to give as small token gifts. This is only after I stood in Barnes and Noble laughing my fool head off reading the story you mentioned. However, I just returned all of them the other day because I got to the second story that I had a hard time finding so amusing. Very funny things can occur when communication is attempted across a language barrier, but this one was about a baby who was "washed" instead of "watched". This washing also included a tumble dry resulting in the child's death, which as a mother and someone who has experienced the death of a baby in the family, did not find particularly amusing. I still think David Sedaris is one of, if not THE funniest man alive, but I was honestly a little surprised by that one. Maybe I'm oversensitive, who knows.
How is that for a cheery comment? Sorry! Merry Christmas, by the way, I hope it was wonderful and that the mood was more akin to the first story in the book than the second!
Understood, Dawn. I was a little set off by that part as well, but I took it in stride as what it was (I think) meant to be - a very sarcastic and irreverent look at some issues that were in the news in general at the time (I think this was from the era of Woody Allen divorcing Mia Farrow and marrying his stepdaughter - don't get me started). All stereotypes and all.
However, I know what you recently went through and agree that this particular story is upsetting to anyone who has lost a child, especially in the way your family has. I hope you enjoyed the other stories though and didn't stop after that one. It's not anywhere on my list of favorites, either.
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