Warped American Family

Sedaris dissolves the myth of the standard Christmas familial warmth with several stories in this collection. The families that appear in "Holidays on Ice" are unique, sometimes demented groups. For example, in "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!" the Dunbars use Christmas as an excuse to purge their family of two unwanted members. They are the baby Don and Khe Sahn. Although Jocelyn purports to embrace the warmth of the season, in fact her newsletter is only an excuse to drum up support for her character at an upcoming legal hearing. Furthermore, even before Khe Sahn arrives, the Dunbar family is fractured. Jocelyn's daughter is a drug addict married to a tattooed loser and her younger son is antisocial and spends all his time locked alone in the bathroom. The Dunbar family, like so many American families, has to pepper its Christmas newsletter with exclamation...