# NPR Radio Series: Christmas Elf at Macy's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225 "2005-01-23T06:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/1 "2005-01-23T06:45:03Z")
A few years abck, I heard bits and pieces of a very funny radio series in NPR…it was about a guy who takes a temporary job as a department store elf (assistant to Santa Claus) at Macy’s in NYC. The guy gets into all kinds of trouble, and I found it quite hilarious. Anybody know if the tape of this is still available? I forget what the series was called. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/2 "2005-01-23T06:55:32Z")
It’s David Sedaris. [Here’s a link.](http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/lists/sedaris/) Look at “Santaland Diaries.” [Here’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1586214349/qid=1106463849/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-1049271-4765757?v=glance&s=books) a link to the audio CD box set that I have that includes the Santaland Diaries. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/3 "2005-01-23T07:27:12Z")
You should definately get “Me talk pretty one day.” IMO it is much better. Oh, and I suggest buying them as audio books, not as printed books. It makes a big difference hearing read it himself. Sedaris is a regular contributer to NPR, so if you listen often you have probably heard more of his stuff. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/4 "2005-01-23T10:38:19Z")
I second _Me Talk Pretty One Day_ – especially his adventures to learning French and adapting to life in France. His new one, _Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim_ He also has appeared frequently on [_This American Life_](http://www.thislife.org/) over the years – all the archived shows can be listened to online. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/5 "2005-01-23T16:44:12Z")
The This American Life episode where Sedaris’ _The Santaland Diaries_ aired was rerun recently. The episode title is “Christmas and Commerce.” You can listen to it streaming for free from [Thislife.org](http://Thislife.org), or you can buy it for download at [audible.com](http://audible.com) (or, as was suggested earlier, as a CD in his box set). Sedaris is pretty darn good at reading his own stories. Also in that episode was “Christmas Freud” by David Rakoff, whose style is similar to that of Sedaris (but still distinct enough to be enjoyable in his own right. Personally, I’m more a fan of Rakoff, but it’s a close call). ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/6 "2005-01-23T17:15:10Z")
I saw this as a one man play last Christmas and it was fantastic- a great play. If you get the opportunity, be sure and catch it! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/7 "2005-01-23T17:33:16Z")
That monologue proved to be so popular, NPR would replay it every year (either on ATC or Weekend Edition) during the Christmas season. I didn’t hear it this year, but then I wasn’t always listening, either. Personally, I hope it remains an NPR Christmas tradition, even if they play it only every other year, or every third year… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/8 "2005-01-23T18:19:32Z")
I also found it to be a wonderful one-man play. But when I tried to _read_ Sedaris, I thought he was a humorless jerk. YMMV. Maybe I need to hear a tape instead. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/9 "2005-01-24T07:21:13Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > But when I tried to _read_ Sedaris, I thought he was a humorless jerk. YMMV. Maybe I need to hear a tape instead. It’s quite possible. I heard him read a few stories on NPR before I started reading his books. As a result, I often found myself applying his voice and style to the dialogs. As **flight** said, he really reads his stuff well. As for the jerk thing - I might be able to relate. I find his personality to be so different than mine, that were he an aquaintence or co-worker, I would probably write him off. However, since I find his stuff so funny, I am willing to see things through his perspective. After one of his books, I tend to feel much more humble and I reconsider some of the people in my life that I criticize the most. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/10 "2005-01-24T16:21:13Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I also found it to be a wonderful one-man play. But when I tried to _read_ Sedaris, I thought he was a humorless jerk. YMMV. Maybe I need to hear a tape instead. Weird. I can’t think of any writer who’s funnier. (Sedaris is far more consistent than, say, Woody Allen in prose.) I also heard him before I read any of his stuff, and I do tend to hear his voice in my head when I read. **Exapno** , did you try reading “Naked”? A lot of that is about when he was a spoiled kid, so it shows him in a worse light than his other books. Although the fact that he doesn’t shy away from his own culpability is one of the things I like about Sedaris. (But by no means the only thing.) Just a few weeks ago I read his newest book, “Dress Your Family in Courdaroy and Denim.” There’s a bit in there when Sedaris is on the phone with his brother Paul (“God… damn… fucking… chicken… wings!”) that had me laughing so hard my sides hurt. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/npr-radio-series-christmas-elf-at-macys/286225/11 "2005-01-24T17:08:45Z")
I’m a collector of American humor. I have pretty much every major book of humorous essays published in the 20th century. From reading so much I think I’ve developed very high standards, but I’ve also learned to recognize the value even of those who aren’t to my taste. I was all prepared to adore Sedaris, and so my total “huh?” response surprised me. The one I have on my shelves is Me Talk Pretty One Day, so I may try him again in another book. Sometimes humorists are like that: you’ll finally hit the right approach and it all snaps into place. Or not.