The author tells in his unique humorous way what he went through when he had to work as…elf!

Are you worried?, during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, when the flashing lights start menacing public and private spaces; Are you tired of window displays with fake snow and plastic Santas who smile the same way every year at bewildered customers; It makes you uncomfortable when you hear the song "Rudolph the Reindeer" everywhere; Do you resent the peculiarity of the festive climate imposed by m’ an extraordinary way of joy, hope and of course consumption;

If you believe that goblins – there are also – they have to shake off that seasonal euphoria at some point, then you must read the American's Christmas Country DiariesDavid Sentaris. S’ this short novella, the humorist writer of Greek origin, he describes with his sly sarcasm what attracted him when he decided to work, black as he was, as a multi-tasking and "full-time" elf in the world's largest store, «Macy's in Herald Square» during a festive season which always creates the need for additional support staff.

The author's narrative, a hilarious tour of a multidimensional bureaucracy that "sells" the holiday experience and souvenirs from’ her photos for an exorbitant fee, leads us to believe that it would be better to be a reindeer and pull Santa's sleigh in distant Lapland than to wear "green velvet suit» and be humble p’ an annex of the mythical house of s’ an American department store that accepts young and old.

We follow the hero, among many other ridiculous things, to rage with the other elves, freaking out when it comes to taking over a cash register and losing control when the store gets crowded. «Any sane person would leave if they knew they would have to wait over two hours to see Santa. Two hours – you could see onefilm in two hours. Standing in a line that will last two hours makes people worry that they don't live in a democratic state». But the purpose is one: for as many people as possible to stay in "Christmasland" and consume as many products as possible while there. In other words "we were an efficient machine in the chaos" where at any time it is possible to anagram "Santa" (Santa Claus) with "Satan" (Satan).

The working elves go through many devious ways to keep up the interest of distracted parenting parents and young children who, because they are not happy enough, their parents slap them and demand ap’ αυτά να σταματήσουν το κλάμα και να χαμογελάσουν στο ξωτικό που περιμένει να τους τραβήξει φωτογραφία σαν μια ευτυχισμένη οικογένεια. «Some of these kids get anxious before they see Santa. They pace up and down and shake hands looking at the floor. They pretend to be going to a job interview» thinks the narrator, trying to reassure a child. «Don't worry, Santa isn't going to judge you. He is not strict. He used to be very critical but people were protesting so he stopped. Trust me, you don't need to worry»…

It is interesting the embarrassment with which he, the v’ other magical world faces reality, that is, when children with disabilities or mental retardation go to see Santa Claus. And when Sendaris describes these situations he does so with sensitivity. With the rest he is amusingly merciless. «I witnessed a fist fight between two moms and watched a woman suffer a severe agoraphobic panic attack: he fell to the floor trying to breathe, waving her arms as if chasing away bats. A Long Island father called Santa a sister for not reciting “Christmas Eve” to his child».

THEHenry James he said that "experience is the very atmosphere of the intellect” and in the mind of David Sedaris everything is strange, surreal, desperate jokes. The author read this novella for the first time, which later became a play, in the morning program of NPR (National Public Radio) of the USA on 23 of December 1992. From then on he became more widely known and subsequently the books he published climbed several times on the bestseller lists in America.

The author's books in Greek http://www.vivlionet.gr/

Source : tovima.gr