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SantaLand Diaries
A collection of surprising, disarming and 'extremely funny' essays from the internationally bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day ( Sunday Times )
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!
'Sedaris writes with a gentle but unfailing acuity and a keen eye for the ridiculous ... extremely funny' - Sunday Times
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!
'Sedaris writes with a gentle but unfailing acuity and a keen eye for the ridiculous ... extremely funny' - Sunday Times
146 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1998
142 people are currently reading
30939 people want to read
About the author
David Sedaris
119 books28.2k followersDavid Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries". He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Much of Sedaris's humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, as well as his life in France, London, New York, and the South Downs in England. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actress Amy Sedaris.
In 2019, Sedaris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 640 reviews
December 17, 2024
A reminder: Because you need this, and yes, listen to him read it, and laugh.
Last night, in this house we watched White Christmas and today, listen once again to Santaland Diaries, of the time Sedaris worked as a Santa's elf at Macy's in Chicago. This rating is for that essay, ignoring for now the others, which are variable, but also never less than good, but just in case you have never heard David Sedaris read his own work, do that, because he is one of the funniest readers ever, and particularly with this amazing and hilarious story; here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5XLj...
You're welcome!
Last night, in this house we watched White Christmas and today, listen once again to Santaland Diaries, of the time Sedaris worked as a Santa's elf at Macy's in Chicago. This rating is for that essay, ignoring for now the others, which are variable, but also never less than good, but just in case you have never heard David Sedaris read his own work, do that, because he is one of the funniest readers ever, and particularly with this amazing and hilarious story; here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5XLj...
You're welcome!
May 6, 2022
Abominevole, irritante, inutile.
L’unica volta in cui son bastate una ventina di pagine a farmi mettere via il libro, con la consapevolezza che se andassi avanti vomiterei. E, soprattutto, che non riprenderò mai in mano alcunché scritto dalla penna di Sedaris.
L’unica volta in cui son bastate una ventina di pagine a farmi mettere via il libro, con la consapevolezza che se andassi avanti vomiterei. E, soprattutto, che non riprenderò mai in mano alcunché scritto dalla penna di Sedaris.
August 7, 2007
I highly recommend you listen to Sedaris read the Santaland Diaries aloud. You can find it in the "This American Life" archives. His voice adds so much to this already funny story.
December 8, 2018
This story had me rolling on the floor it was so funny. Who knew what went on in SantaLand? This is inspired. This was a story in 'Holidays on Ice' and I have seen a one-man show of this that sold me on it because he was amazing.
Long live Crumpet!
Long live Crumpet!
February 7, 2017
2.5 με 3 αστέρια. .
ειναι ενα πολυ συντομο ιστορικο καποιων αστειων περιστατικων που συνεβησαν στον συγγραφεα οταν δουλεψε σαν ..ξωτικο στο μεγαλυτερο πολυκαταστημα της νεας υορκης(macy's)..καποια πολυ αστεια περιστατικα, παιδια,γινεις,φωτογραφιες, καλαντα, ενας χαμος..ευχαριστο αλλα ως εκει..
ειναι ενα πολυ συντομο ιστορικο καποιων αστειων περιστατικων που συνεβησαν στον συγγραφεα οταν δουλεψε σαν ..ξωτικο στο μεγαλυτερο πολυκαταστημα της νεας υορκης(macy's)..καποια πολυ αστεια περιστατικα, παιδια,γινεις,φωτογραφιες, καλαντα, ενας χαμος..ευχαριστο αλλα ως εκει..
February 25, 2008
Read. Re-read. Re-re-read. And on and on and on. I think I have a problem with this essay. That's the only point on which my doctor and shrink agree. They suggested me to rehab. I tried.
I found a job. The more you work the less you think. That's what I thought before thinking less. The job was great and satisfactory. I gave leaflets on the streets dressed like a french fry. The kind of job someone could kill to don't have one. Yet, I found more than a job. I found feelings. I fell in love with a nice girl. I met her on the threshold of a Mexican restaurant. She was unforgettable in her beautiful Taco costume. We dated several times. We liked each other. We were made for each other.
And yet in a couple of weeks she broke my fried heart. She left me for a Camcorder dressed man. His name was Olympus. He used to work on the other side of the road, advertising for a shopping mall. He was closer to her place than me. The Taco girl -that lousy bitch- told me how she needed to focus more on her life, looking at it from different perspectives. "You know, Olympus is the right person for helping me in that process". That's what she told me. I nodded in that reflective and well mannered way a sad french fry is supposed to do. I quit the job. Afterwards nothing had changed. And that's why I keep on reading the Diaries. I still dream of elves. I need to sit on Santa's lap asking for a woman. Everybody loves Satan.
I found a job. The more you work the less you think. That's what I thought before thinking less. The job was great and satisfactory. I gave leaflets on the streets dressed like a french fry. The kind of job someone could kill to don't have one. Yet, I found more than a job. I found feelings. I fell in love with a nice girl. I met her on the threshold of a Mexican restaurant. She was unforgettable in her beautiful Taco costume. We dated several times. We liked each other. We were made for each other.
And yet in a couple of weeks she broke my fried heart. She left me for a Camcorder dressed man. His name was Olympus. He used to work on the other side of the road, advertising for a shopping mall. He was closer to her place than me. The Taco girl -that lousy bitch- told me how she needed to focus more on her life, looking at it from different perspectives. "You know, Olympus is the right person for helping me in that process". That's what she told me. I nodded in that reflective and well mannered way a sad french fry is supposed to do. I quit the job. Afterwards nothing had changed. And that's why I keep on reading the Diaries. I still dream of elves. I need to sit on Santa's lap asking for a woman. Everybody loves Satan.
December 14, 2015
Really this book is a 2.5, but I'm feeling generous (it's Christmas!) so rounding up - Maybe 20% was funny, 50% was mean-spirited and 15% was interesting and 15% boring...
You can see the satirical voice Sedaris is aiming for, but for me it just wasn't quite clever enough, or witty enough, to pull of the rather mean things he says. The first story about being an elf is Macy's was perhaps the best, most sardonic and darkly humorous. It did have me laughing aloud a few times on the train. There were still a few sections though that made me pull back and question some of the things he was saying (I couldn't work out the bit about the children visiting with learning difficulties - were we supposed to laugh at them (I hope not) and then comparing the shoppers to them - it felt very awkward). At its worst, with stories like Dinah, the Christmas Whore, they are long-winding shaggy dog stories with little pay-off and strange over-indulgent meanderings. The final story 'Christmas is for Giving' was the other high(ish) point in the collection, taking rich middle-class American 'keeping up with the Joneses' to its logical and surrealist extreme. The idea there is funny (a set of neighbours try to out-do each other with their charitable givings) but as with the subjects of his other stories the targets of his jesting are rather obvious and do not probe further than the stereotype. The type of stories where everyone is an idiot except for the writer can be a hard pill to swallow after a while.
It's not entirely put me off Sedaris so I'd like to read another of his story collections to see if this tone is a one-off or whether it was just that my love of Christmas blind me to its darkly comic ways. Bah-humbug.
You can see the satirical voice Sedaris is aiming for, but for me it just wasn't quite clever enough, or witty enough, to pull of the rather mean things he says. The first story about being an elf is Macy's was perhaps the best, most sardonic and darkly humorous. It did have me laughing aloud a few times on the train. There were still a few sections though that made me pull back and question some of the things he was saying (I couldn't work out the bit about the children visiting with learning difficulties - were we supposed to laugh at them (I hope not) and then comparing the shoppers to them - it felt very awkward). At its worst, with stories like Dinah, the Christmas Whore, they are long-winding shaggy dog stories with little pay-off and strange over-indulgent meanderings. The final story 'Christmas is for Giving' was the other high(ish) point in the collection, taking rich middle-class American 'keeping up with the Joneses' to its logical and surrealist extreme. The idea there is funny (a set of neighbours try to out-do each other with their charitable givings) but as with the subjects of his other stories the targets of his jesting are rather obvious and do not probe further than the stereotype. The type of stories where everyone is an idiot except for the writer can be a hard pill to swallow after a while.
It's not entirely put me off Sedaris so I'd like to read another of his story collections to see if this tone is a one-off or whether it was just that my love of Christmas blind me to its darkly comic ways. Bah-humbug.
December 27, 2023
Αυτό το βιβλιαράκι το διαβάζω κάθε Χριστούγεννα με την ίδια απόλαυση.
December 26, 2022
Σαρκαστικό, κυνικό ότι πρέπει για τα Χριστούγεννα...
http://lego-ergo-sum.com/2022/12/26/%...
http://lego-ergo-sum.com/2022/12/26/%...
July 19, 2020
A quick read, which had me laughing out loud at least twice. The authors talent is in his accurate descriptions of people - sometimes funny, sometimes sad. It was just too short, and once you've listened to him it's difficult to go back to reading.
My favorite is still definitely Calypso, I can't recommend the audio highly enough.
My favorite is still definitely Calypso, I can't recommend the audio highly enough.
December 5, 2016
Very much front loaded so the first piece was very good and then went down hill for the others. A lot of his output is pretty mean spirited and aimed at slightly undeserving targets (Cristmas Nativity plays by 10 years old aren't that good? Really, tell me more). Although some of the framing devices are good, I felt if you took them away there wasn't that much left, and in particular nothing insightful. So, boo hiss for me.
December 31, 2015
Review to come.
February 3, 2023
I really wanted to like this. I did like the first tale, the Christmas Whore tale and the final little bit, but everything else was just too, too much, especially the letter and the one-upmanship story.
The Christmas Family update letter was just awful. I know what Sedaris was going for. We have friends who send those obnoxious letters and include a heavily airbrushed studio portrait. Those of us that are close to them know the "real story." How close they got to divorce, the teen pregnancy scare, the brush with being cut from the football team for grades. Still, they insist on sending these braggy, upbeat letters that paint their lives in increasingly fake technicolor. Blech. His offering was just too over the top. I want a few happy words and some Christmas cheer, not the whole unvarnished truth with a plea for character witnesses for Pete's sake!
The stories Sedaris writes from a personal point of view are the most successful. Even if they aren't actually true, they feel true in that we've all been there. The people he describes exist. Maybe not quite that flamboyantly, but they do exist. I wish he would stick to memoirs. Or, even, pretend memoirs.
sigh
The Christmas Family update letter was just awful. I know what Sedaris was going for. We have friends who send those obnoxious letters and include a heavily airbrushed studio portrait. Those of us that are close to them know the "real story." How close they got to divorce, the teen pregnancy scare, the brush with being cut from the football team for grades. Still, they insist on sending these braggy, upbeat letters that paint their lives in increasingly fake technicolor. Blech. His offering was just too over the top. I want a few happy words and some Christmas cheer, not the whole unvarnished truth with a plea for character witnesses for Pete's sake!
The stories Sedaris writes from a personal point of view are the most successful. Even if they aren't actually true, they feel true in that we've all been there. The people he describes exist. Maybe not quite that flamboyantly, but they do exist. I wish he would stick to memoirs. Or, even, pretend memoirs.
sigh
January 21, 2015
I couldn't any more ignore a highly positive feedback from many readers about David Sedaris's comedy skills. And Christmas from a different perspective? That sounded interesting!
Unfortunately, in regard to this book, my high expectations were not totally met.
There were for sure some really funny observations, comments and thoughts, but on the whole I found the humour in this collection out of non-fiction stories rather monotonous than sparking-refreshing.
I hope, I'll have more luck with my next David Sedaris.
Because his writing is very promising.
May 17, 2022
I am an unabashed holiday hater, especially Christmas. I never laughed so hard as when reading Sedaris describing his time as an elf. Beyond charming and morose and funny and endearing.
Read
February 25, 2009The audio version (heard it first on NPR) read by Sedaris is unforgettably funny! The text version will make you laugh out loud and cause people to stare at you, but it is nothing compared to hearing Sedaris tell the story. Text alone would get 3 or 4 stars, but the audio get s 7 stars on a 5 star scale.
December 15, 2018
The good people at Little, Brown and Company did you a solid by also releasing this exact same book as 'Holidays on Ice' which is awesome if you need two copies of the same book but with a different title, which is really what Christmas is all about.
January 11, 2022
Hilariously witty, I’m so glad I picked up David Sedaris’ books to kick off my year. It brightens up the dreary winter days and lightens my mood when i am recuperating in bed for the past 6 days. I have always thought that those elves look quite silly but it was interesting to know how frustrating the job is when you have to deal with demanding and entitled parents while putting an energetic blithe front.
January 9, 2023
When I started this book of short stories, I didn't realize it was actually non-fiction. I was laughing from the start of the book and thought it was just so funny. I don't laugh aloud easily when reading books but this one definitely made me crack up. It's a great book to get a short, quick read in and even lift your spirits which is perfect for Christmas, but not necessarily has to be read during the holidays. I'm really glad I picked it up and read about becoming an elf in SantaLand at Macy's in New York, along with other fun stories that make one look at life in a different light. I loved it.
Let me end this review by simply saying, hilarious!
Let me end this review by simply saying, hilarious!
December 25, 2022
Την ημέρα των Χριστουγέννων βιβλίο που καταφέρνει να τα αποδομήσει (ουπς). Εντάξει, το υλιστικό κομμάτι τους έστω. Ή αλλιώς, τι κρύβεται πίσω από τη μαγεία της αγαπημένης γιορτής μικρών και μεγάλων.
Όλο το παρασκήνιο της εμπορευματοποίησης των Χριστουγέννων, αλλά και ενίοτε ο παραλογισμός παιδιών και γονιών, περιγράφεται εδώ με χιούμορ, αν και σε αρκετά σημεία του, ήταν κάπως ενοχλητικό (βλέπε αναφορές σε παιδιά ΑΜΕΑ). Προφανώς οι άνθρωποι που έχουν εργαστεί υποδυόμενοι ξωτικά, Άγιους Βασίληδες κλπ, να έχουν να διηγηθούν ιστορίες απείρου κάλλους από αυτή τους την εμπειρία, όμως η εξιστόρησή τους σε αυτό το βιβλίο, προσωπικά μου έδωσε μόνο μια-δυο στιγμές μειδιάματος και την άβολη διαπίστωση ότι ακόμη και σε μια γιορτή που θα έπρεπε να φωνάζει την αγάπη, οι άνθρωποι διαλέγουμε τον εγωισμό.
Όλο το παρασκήνιο της εμπορευματοποίησης των Χριστουγέννων, αλλά και ενίοτε ο παραλογισμός παιδιών και γονιών, περιγράφεται εδώ με χιούμορ, αν και σε αρκετά σημεία του, ήταν κάπως ενοχλητικό (βλέπε αναφορές σε παιδιά ΑΜΕΑ). Προφανώς οι άνθρωποι που έχουν εργαστεί υποδυόμενοι ξωτικά, Άγιους Βασίληδες κλπ, να έχουν να διηγηθούν ιστορίες απείρου κάλλους από αυτή τους την εμπειρία, όμως η εξιστόρησή τους σε αυτό το βιβλίο, προσωπικά μου έδωσε μόνο μια-δυο στιγμές μειδιάματος και την άβολη διαπίστωση ότι ακόμη και σε μια γιορτή που θα έπρεπε να φωνάζει την αγάπη, οι άνθρωποι διαλέγουμε τον εγωισμό.
January 3, 2012
Interesting, two books in one week. Who THOUGHT SO!
Now, I only read this because exams week is coming! Prepare for exams by reading irrelevant books. Yes, This is how I do it.
Now, let's review this good laugh.
I didn't enjoy it that much, but it's surely a good laugh before exams.
Christmas, only saw it in movie. Surely I've read about Christmas, what it is. The fact that people wait in line for more than one hour to JUST see A NOT real Santa Claus is funny.
Now David will act as an elf in this story, the job is both hilarious and boring to fill. That was my first book by David Sedaris, I surely want to read his other works!
Now, I only read this because exams week is coming! Prepare for exams by reading irrelevant books. Yes, This is how I do it.
Now, let's review this good laugh.
I didn't enjoy it that much, but it's surely a good laugh before exams.
Christmas, only saw it in movie. Surely I've read about Christmas, what it is. The fact that people wait in line for more than one hour to JUST see A NOT real Santa Claus is funny.
Now David will act as an elf in this story, the job is both hilarious and boring to fill. That was my first book by David Sedaris, I surely want to read his other works!
December 29, 2014
Meh! Not really exciting, or funny for that matter.
I liked the first two stories, and had a great time reading them. They were actually funny. The of them, not so much.
I'm guessing David Sedaris's humour has some moments that are just not for me.
I liked the first two stories, and had a great time reading them. They were actually funny. The of them, not so much.
I'm guessing David Sedaris's humour has some moments that are just not for me.
December 24, 2018
This is the first David Sedaris book I've read, but I plan to read more. It was my brand of holiday spirit, I just wish it was a bit longer.
November 18, 2018
Pee-your-pants funny!!! This is a perfect read out-loud book...adults only!
January 21, 2023
Funny in a weird and uncomfortable way, yet I found myself laughing.
December 24, 2025
the first and last essay in this collection are 5 stars and had me genuinely cackling w laughter but the ones in the middle are more middling (haha) and alas bring down the star rating
January 8, 2023
Light, chaotic, some laugh out loud moments. First read by Sedaris and I’m quite delighted.
October 5, 2019
Honestly, this guy either has a super weird imagination or he has had some weird stuff happen to him
February 11, 2022
Inconsequential lying is really the best.
January 1, 2016
Most hilarious Christmas tales around. You will never look at Christmas the same after exploring Sedaris's amazingly funny but somewhat dark world. 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!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 640 reviews