"Santaland Diaries" is an essay by David Sedaris. It is a humorous account of Sedaris' stint working as a Christmas elf in "Santaland" at Macy's department store. Sedaris first read the essay on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on December 23, 1992. The piece was well-received, and provided Sedaris with his first major break. Sedaris later published the essay in the collections Barrel Fever (1994) and Holidays on Ice (1997). A much longer version of the piece first aired on December 20, 1996 on the Public Radio International program This American Life. In 1996, Joe Mantello adapted Sedaris' essay for the stage as a one-man, one-act play, which debuted (as The Santaland Diaries) at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City on November 7, 1996. Timothy Olyphant originated the role