Customer Reviews

The Dysfunctional Family Christmas Songbook

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3 star:		(2)
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Every time I pick up this book, I laugh myself silly at the inventive and sometimes painfully true lyrics: "We must have a perfect Christmas"; "O, what a fight, the fists were really flying..."; "Silent wife, angry wife..."; "Away in a manger, is that where you dressed?" and more. And surprisingly, the simple piano accompaniment is not bad at all.

Call me over-protective, but this is not humor I intend to share with the younger ones. "Whose Child Is This?" and "Here I Come A-Borrowing" make me laugh hard, and the parodies do not diminish the beauty of the original carols for me. But I wonder how the originals might survive in young minds after learning these very funny, but sometimes racy lyrics. And I am not too keen on answering, in the setting of the holidays, some of the questions that this content would probably provoke.

Not all jokes I hear or tell are suitable for youngsters, nor do I think they have to be. Taken as grown-up humor, this little book is a marvelously effective antidote to the saccharine airs wafting through this "most wonderful time of the year".

I thought this was such a great idea for a book, but I wasn't sure how it would sound to actually sing the songs. If you can get through them without laughing, you're doing better than I did! Really, Really fun for the whole...Okay, for MOST of the family!

I saw a concert in New York that featured opera singers singing these songs, and that convinced me to buy the book for my family sing along. Loads of fun.

Bought five copies of this for my sisters. We all held our sides as we encountered lyrics that made us all say, "Oh that's so (family member)!" The laughs were worth every penny and I recommend to all people willing to admit they come from a dysfunctional family. Not for the traditional or devout. Must have a sense of humor and ability to identify family foibles.

This book is full of traditional Christmas songs with traditional music but not so traditional words. My in-laws will love it but I wouldn't dare show it to my parents!

This book massages every Christmas-induced ache. It's great to read sassy, spot-on lyrics that actually fit the music. I agree it's not for everyone, but this book is very funny!

The songs in this book are really funny, and I'm sure that many people will find it to be a welcome ice-breaker during family gatherings. However, due to some profanity and other issues expressed in the lyrics, it's not suitable for kids. In fact, I'm not sure I would share it with the adults in my family at Christmas. While my family loves this kind of humor, it's disappointing to see the use of profanity (and God's name being used in vain) in a book connected to Christmas. A gifted author can always find choice, unique words to achieve their goals; they don't have to resort to profanity to make a statement or get a laugh.

I read Lenore Skenazy's column in the NY Daily News; although she's no Dave Barry, she's fairly clever. Out of 19 songs I really only laughed out loud to 3 or 4. But for less than ten dollars, it's a good deal if you want to have a few chuckles over Christmas dinner.