Customer Reviews

Christmas Stories (Everyman's Library)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Christmas Stories published by Everyman's Pocket Classic contains short stories that have stood the test of time and become classics in their own right. With twenty stories by authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yes the Blue Carbuncle is a Christmas story), Charles Dickens (The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton), Leo Tolstoy (Where Love is, God is), O'Henry (A Chapparal Christmas Gift), Evelyn Waugh (Bella Fleace Gave a Party), or Truman Copote (A Christmas Memory), Christmas Stories is sure to have something for every reader.

Other authors include Nikolai Gogol (The Night Before Christmas), Anthony Trollope (Christmas at Thompson Hall), Anton Chekhov (Vanka), Willa Cather (The Burglar's Christmas), Saki[H. H. Munro](Rginald's Christmas Revel), Vladimir Nabokov (Christmas), Damon Runyon (Dancing Dan's Christmas), Elizabeth Bowen (Green Holly), John Cheever (Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor), John Updike (The Carol Sing), Muriel Spark (Christmas Fugue), Grace Paley (The Loudest Voice), Alice Munro (The Turkey Season), and finally Richard Ford (Creche).

Comedy, suspense, or a touch of the emotional, it's all here.

If you want a book to carry with you on your holiday travels to fill in quieter momemts, Christmas Stories is the book for you. This would also make a terrific gift for anyone who loves the season. What a wonderful story collection.

Peace

I was going to purchase a second copy for my mother..until I read the last few stories. What a shame Diane Tesdell felt the need to include from Muriel Sparks' to Richard Fords' stories(not in the spirit of Christmas at all;Fords' was a true disappointment). The earlier stories(up to & including Truman Capote's)were wonderful;the rest,mediocre,and even nasty.Everything nowadays just has to meet a low "common" denominator,instead of aspiring to greatness!

Every home that celebrates Christmas deserves an anthology of beloved holiday stories that enrich the season. This is not it. Despite the nostalgic cover and the ribbon marker, this rather unpleasant collection lacks most of the familiar and seems to focus on the morbid and depressing. Probably more suited to the jaded and cynical reader, don't buy this one if you are looking for an abridged version of 'A Christmas Carol' to read aloud or 'The Night Before Christmas.' You would do better to buy 'The Kingfisher Book of Christmas Stories' of Michael Hague's Christmas Treasury, or try to buy Tasha Tudor's 'Take Joy' on the secondary market. By all means, save your money and avoid this one. Have a Merry Christmas and, as Tiny Tim observed, 'God Bless us, everyone!'

I love Capote's "A Christmas Memory" so I was willing to pay the price just for that one, but I got a whole set of great stories in the package. This is a handsome hard back, smaller than some of the ostentatious holiday compilations on the market. It is a very nice format. It is a little treasure for me.

Don't bother. I would not have bought this if I had been able to leaf through it first. Long, tedious, pointless stories, obscure for good reason. I put it in the resale box before I was halfway through. Pity.

This collection has the best short story authors, such as Tolstoy and Capote. I originally bought it because I wanted one particular story and was pleasantly surprised with the rest of the collection. I am giving it as a gift this year.

I bought Christmas Stories for my sister and one for a friend. Luckily, I decided to read some of the stories before wrapping them. The stories were not what I expected. THey included Lesbians, alchoholics, and for the most part the stories were not the warm ones I would share with my friends. The Dickens and Willa Cather stories were more what I expected. I ended up throwing both copies away because I couldn't think of anyone to share them with.

The Everyman's Library edition of Christmas Stories is filled with warm and historic Christmas shorts that will long be remembered for the list of thoughtfully selected authors and their wonderful contributions. You can not go wrong with an Everyman's Library selection. A perfect Christmas Gift for all.