My Elf Self
Sedaris recalls his time working as a Macy’s elf during the holiday season:
“Today was the official opening day of SantaLand and I worked as a Magic Window Elf, a Santa Elf and an Usher Elf. The Magic Window is located in the adult ‘Quick Peep’ queue. My job was to say, ‘Step on the Magic Star and look through the window, and you can see Santa!’ I was at the Magic Window for 15 minutes before a man approached me and said, ‘You look so fucking stupid.’
“I have to admit that he had a point. But still, I wanted to say that at least I get paid to look stupid, that he gives it away for free. But I can’t say things like that because I’m supposed to be merry.
“So instead I said, ‘Thank you!'”
The Boy Who Had Two Lives
When Binjamin Wilkomirksi’s account of his childhood was published in 1995, it was hailed as a classic among Holocaust memoirs. Then the fraud allegations began.
Masters of illusion: The great management consultancy swindle
It’s cost the NHS £300m and its practitioners are wielding the axe at magazine giant Condé Nast. But is it all just smoke and mirrors? Ex-management consultant Matthew Stewart recalls his career in the “efficiency business” – and reveals its dark arts
Deborah Orr: We feel sorry for abused children. But what about damaged adults?
Educational facilities for children like Sonnex have improved so little under Labour
The dark side of Dubai
Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports
