David Sedaris’s beloved holiday collection is usually brand-new again with six more items, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy’s elf and the history of two extremely competitive family members, are Sedaris’s stories of tardy trick-or-treaters (‘Us and Them’); the down sides of detailing the Easter Bunny towards the French (‘Jesus Shaves’); what to do when you’ve been locked out in a snowstorm (‘Let It Snow’); the puzzling Xmas traditions of other countries (‘Six to Eight Dark Males’); what Halloween on the medical examiner’s appears like (‘The Monster Mash’); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry (‘Cow and Turkey’).

No real matter what your preferred holiday, you won’t want to miss celebrating it with the writer that has been called ‘one from the funniest authors alive’ (Economist).