Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze

by Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Mona Mansour

Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze is a music-filled holiday comedy starring Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph, with a jolly cast including Patti LuPone, Rachel Dratch, and Richard Kind. In this heart-warming story of love and friendship, listeners follow the journey of "Sugar" and "Booze," as they go from inseparable college buddies to busy working moms who mostly keep in touch with each other, and their close friends and family, through annual holiday letters. Pulled apart by distance and their hectic lives, their friendship nears a breaking point. That is until one December, when everything comes to a head at their annual holiday fete. Can their friendship survive the holidays?

Booze performed by Ana Gasteyer
Sugar performed by Maya Rudolph
Auntie Ana performed by Patti LuPone
Madeline performed by Rachel Dratch
Antoni performed by Tim Bagley
Dan performed by Brian Huskey
Jim performed by Oscar Nunez
Karen performed by Dylan Gelula
Manny performed by Richard Kind

Caleb, Military Man performed by Michael Cruz Kayne
Kyle performed by Branson Reese
Tommy, Scotty, Opening Ensemble performed by Casey Jost
Audrey, Opening Ensemble performed by Erin Anderson
Nicole, Opening Ensemble performed by Montego Glover
Judy, Opening Ensemble performed by Leslie Kritzer
Little Karen performed by Gianna Dennis
Little Kyle performed by Michael Marston
Little Caleb performed by AJ Jastrab
Litter Kid performed by James Bernard
Litter performed by Benjamin McGowan
Radio DJ, Opening Ensemble performed by Jim Santangeli
E.R. Nurse, Party Ensemble performed by Mona Mansour
Michaela performed by Sara Grace Welbourn
Party Ensemble performed by Franca Vercelloni
Narrator performed by Marc Vietor

Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze features music from Ana Gasteyer’s album sugar & booze, available now at sugarandboozealbum.com.

©2019 Broadway Video, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: Audiobook, Humor, Fiction, Christmas, Holiday, Contemporary, Short Stories

3 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 5, 2019

Reviews

[Christy]

2 stars

This was meh for me in every way.

[Anne]

This started off funny & strong. It’s an hour too long despite that I related to much of the story & banter.

I’m disappointed because I wanted to love this!

[Jen]

free 2.5hr audible listened to while drunk wrapping gifts.
Was just horrible and didn't laugh once.
I have a problem with leaving books & movies unfinished no matter how bad...but I really need to do some self reflection into why i feel i have to finish something I've started listening to when there are so many other wonderful choices. I can not have that 2.5hrs back.

[Anna lost in stories *A*]

3,5 stars to an interesting story spanning around 30 years about two friends and how their lives change with time… told mostly through holiday letters it was good enough that I finished it but will probably fly out of my mind pretty quickly…

XOXO

A

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This was my soundtrack to some holiday baking - an epistolary audiobook told mostly (but not exclusively) through holiday letters.

[Mariah Roze]

Oscar from The Office was in this!!


"Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze is a music-filled holiday comedy starring Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph, with a jolly cast including Patti LuPone, Rachel Dratch, and Richard Kind. In this heart-warming story of love and friendship, listeners follow the journey of "Sugar" and "Booze," as they go from inseparable college buddies to busy working moms who mostly keep in touch with each other, and their close friends and family, through annual holiday letters. Pulled apart by distance and their hectic lives, their friendship nears a breaking point. That is until one December, when everything comes to a head at their annual holiday fete. Can their friendship survive the holidays?"

[Troy Zaher]

I very rarely rate books that I do not finish, because I’m sure it could get better.

That being said, there is no possible way that I’d rate this book above a 1 Star even if it got better in the last hour minutes. Because the first hour was one of the most boring, unfunny, and disappointing books I’ve ever read.

Part of me feels like I’m too young for the humor (I’m 24), as much of it are references I don’t Get. But in actuality, I believe I didn’t like the jokes because they just weren’t funny by any stretch of the imagination.

The biggest issue with this book is that it relies heavily on images you can’t see and aren’t described. I’m sure that this would be much better in a visual format, but sadly it’ll never get there.

The opening joke was relatable, but even that wasn’t very funny.

[Adriana]

Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph along with several other actors did a wonderful job on this audio book. It is a book about friendship and Christmas. It goes down memory lane from college to the present with laughter and reality checks. I really enjoyed listening to it as my last holiday audio book of the year.

[Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder]

Reposting after the deletion of 12 Audible Originals Dec. 17-19, 2019.
Goodreads purged about 12 (that I could identify) Audible Original audiobooks towards the end of the year 2019 as they apparently did not meet guidelines. Those audiobooks that have been converted from podcasts are apparently the main issue. Others that are short novellas, memoirs or audio productions of theatrical plays may be restored. This current edition of the audio production Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze is a new listing and not a restoration. Hopefully it will not be deleted. Thanks in advance to Goodreads and SuperLibrarians who listen to appeals!

Original Review:
And Now For Something Completely Unfunny
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (Dec. 2019)

I think I laughed only once during this tale of two grown-up neurotics, who retain their 20 to 30-year-old college-day nicknames of "Sugar" and "Booze" for no apparent reason. I'd love to tell you where that was, but the joke was so forgettable that I can't do that. I do remember that it was something that the grown daughter Karen said, probably in contempt for her parents or their friends.

Otherwise, this overacted and overproduced audio-play seems to owe its entire existence to a marketing scheme for Ana Gasteyer's "Sugar and Booze" seasonal music album.

Audio Warning: The actual title song "Sugar and Booze" is infuriatingly toe-tappingly catchy, so once you've heard it a few times you will have a few days of difficulty in getting it out of your head, so be careful if you click through further on the album.

Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze was one of the free Audible Original audiobooks for members in December 2019.

[Jo - •.• Midlife Cosy Reader •.•]

Sugar and Booze attended college together and lived together as young adults. The one thing they said they would never do was compose those annoying holiday letters that people send to their family and friends about all of their achievements since last year. They vowed to always be friends and spend their holiday together.

Many years later they have very different lives and guess what, they both send out holiday letters to their family and friends :) They are both married but one of them has only one overachieving daughter and the other has three rambunctious boys. They have drifted a bit and after one Christmas gathering ends in complete chaos and some cross words they part ways. Life gets in the way and the years pass by.

This was a fun story narrated by a man with a British accent because he said it sounded more official :) A story about friendship and the long binding ties between two best friends.

[SheriC]

This might have been good, but I find dramatizations a little annoying, so DNF'd. From the Audible Plus catalog.

[Beatrice]

This was a fun format for storytelling told through Christmas letters and Christmas party conversations throughout the years. The story itself is not that great, but it was fun to hear some SNL alum tell a holiday story.

[Erica]

Hilarious!!! I enjoyed every minute of this story. It was centered around two best friends from college and how their friendship changes over the years after they have families and life happens. The majority of the story is told through Christmas letters/cards they send each year. It was free, an Audible Original, and only about 2.5 hours. Totally worth the listen during the holidays.

[Lyn]

I don't get the bad reviews on here. Perhaps those lucky people haven't experienced the death of a friendship that they thought would never end. Life gets in the way, and if you're lucky enough to have a friend who can pick up the threads 20 years later, that's a miracle.

I loved this. Everything about it, right down to the druncles. Bittersweet and yes, very sweet. Beautifully performed by some of the great voices of this time.

[Brad]

My review for this got deleted, and I don’t feel like writing another long one. But I will say that I enjoyed this audiobook very much! Got it as an audible freebie. Loved Ana and Maya as Sugar and Booze. Loved Patti LuPone as the crazy Aunt.

Super depressing at times, but it’s totally what every 30-something is going through right now.

[Kristin]

This was a delightful, comedic meditation on aging, friendship, and holiday rituals. I listened with a smile on my face and was inspired to think about my own “Christmas village”-equivalent and whether/not I imbue it with too much meaning. Recommended for fans of Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph. Their joyous narration brings this epistolary novella to life.

[Lisa E]

The narration was great but the story was just ok. It felt like the story would never end :(

[Paige]

I thought this was funny and sweet, and the production quality and performances were great!

[Maureen]

Oh, I loved this. It might not be for everyone, but it was most certainly for me. I noticed the reviews on Goodreads are not great, but over on Audible, it received higher ratings. Most people who don't like it, don't think it's funny enough. It is listed as a comedy, but I didn't see that label before I listened, so I listened with no preconceived idea of what I'd be hearing. For that reason, I probably have a different perspective than others.

I adored this audiobook. The story is mine - a tale of college besties growing apart over the years as they raise their families and become more of who they each are. The storytelling was nostalgic with Christmas letters that turned into Christmas emails momentarily and other references to the times as the story hopped forward and backward through the last few decades. These are my people. I'm living this right now, close to the story's timeline, so it resonated beautifully with me. Some reviewers commented they might not have been the right age for it. The references might have fallen flat with them and I can understand that, but what didn't vibe for them is what I loved most.

I think the cast was perfect, the mix of serious and comedic moments was done well, and the way they presented the audio made you feel like you were in a crowded room experiencing the party. It was the perfect audiobook to kick off my 2022 Christmas season. It reminded me to open my home and gather, which we all need more of after the isolation of the past couple of years. While I set up my Christmas village, I'll think of Booze, and while I wrangle my crazy kids (one of which is named Kyle!), I'll think of Sugar. I do believe the best part of the holidays is Sugar and Booze. Thank you for this lovely tale!

[Amanda]

God, this was hard to get through because it was so over the top (not in a good way) and honestly unfunny. Luckily my commute is long enough that this took up only a few travel hours back and forth to work, and I was able to do other things while "listening."

[Traci]

This was...not good. Disappointing especially considering the very funny cast. Relied heavily on lame cliches.

[Cassie T.]

Wasnt as fun or funny as it could have been

[Claire]

Meh. Although I love Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, and Rachel Dratch, this book missed the mark. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was a sad tale of 2 friends who have grown apart.

[Kara (Rotella Reads)]

Wasn’t funny in the slightest. Pretty much 3 hours of try hard that fell completely flat. The only part I enjoyed was the shout out to the University of Oregon.

This was clearly free from Audible for a reason. 😏

[Teresa]

I chose this audible original as something to listen to on or near Christmas that would be fun and festive. Nope. I still don't really understand the point.

[Julie]

Meh. Not really funny but I did enjoy the cast of characters.

[Andrea]

I don't know what I expected when I got this on Audible. I just saw Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph and 'free' and went, 'ok! I need this! lol.' This is hilarious and everyone has a Christmas like this or knows somebody that has a Christmas like this. Check this out if you need something funny to get out of the Christmas blues and if you're a fan of these awesome ladies.

[Jess Platt]

I loved the star-studded cast, and the whole thing was fabulously atmospheric. But the story itself was a little wanting. I found myself wondering if this was just some very well executed marketing, considering it features music and is partly named after a song from Ana Gasteyer’s new holiday album. However, I will say it really intrigued me and made me want another such immersive audiobook stat.

[Carole Rae]

Gotta love my monthly freebies ;) Plus what a crew! I adore Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph! And I love sugar...and booze...yayy



Okay - so the story follows Sugar and Booze as they go from inseparable college buddies to busy working moms who are slowly drifting apart. They tend to only communicate via holiday letters. Things happen and life happens. Will their friendship survive the holidays and time?



I loved how they had a whole crew to narrate. It made it WAY easier. Everyone has very distinctive voices, so it made it easy. Plus it was a lot of fun this way! Some familiar voices, some new.



Good thing Sugar and Booze are nicknames for these characters. I was really concerned. haha. But I adore the nicknames and they fit them. I love how intertwined the music element was. It wasn't a musical, mind you, but I liked how it was essential to the storytelling. It is the holidays after all!



This had a few chuckles for me. It wasn't rolling-on-the-floor-crying-and-laughing, but it had some real-life humor. The aunt was ridiculous, but for the most part this was very relatable. I connected with these characters and some of the jokes I got...some I didn't. Maybe I will when I'm a mom or older. Who knows?



The ending was good. I enjoyed it and it all tied together nicely. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing more journeys from these people! They were fun to follow not just Booze and Sugar. I liked everyone. Maybe someday we'll get a side story about that crazy aunt.



Overall, this was sweet. It was a quick listen and I enjoyed it. It had some humor and some feels and some music. Very nice and fun. I will give this 4 stars.

[Vel Veeter]

Another Audible original and this one is really bad. You’ll have to forgive my choosing it above another option because it’s about two friends who have drifted apart told through the details of their annual Christmas letters. I thought might be good because it has a really good cast — Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Richard Kind, Patti Lupone, Oscar Nunez and others. And the premise is a perfectly good vehicle. But too much of it was both patently ridiculous, but also without being ridiculous enough. If that makes sense at all. But what I mean is that it couldn’t tell if it wanted to be a farce or a lark, and it can’t be either. It’s also chock full of cliches and rehashed and warmed over ideas about the holidays, and worse full of offensive and near offensive moments. What this means is that it’s not clear if Maya Rudolph is playing a white woman or biracial woman, and this may or not matter much until Ana Gasteyer’s character calls her children something like “filthy animals” which definitely changes the context. There’s also a daughter who comes out as gender noncomnforming and while it’s not quite at the level of offensive, it’s something close, and clearly something that everyone is meant to be uncomfortable with. Regardless the offensiveness of this whole thing is how good and talented the group who made this is and how not good this ends up being. Oh well, I should have gotten Peter Pan.