Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For A More Joyful Christmas [Hardcover]

Bill McKibben (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 2, 1998

Too many people have come to dread the approach of the holidays, a season that should -- and can -- be the most relaxed, intimate, joyful, and spiritual time of the year. In this book, Bill McKibben offers some suggestions on how to rethink Christmastime, so that our current obsession with present-buying becomes less important than the dozens of other possible traditions and celebrations.

Working through their local churches, McKibben and his colleagues found that people were hungry for a more joyful Christmas season. For many, trying to limit the amount of money they spent at Christmas to about a hundred dollars per family, was a real spur to their creativity -- and a real anchor against the relentless onslaught of commercials and catalogs that try to say Christmas is only Christmas if it comes from a store.

McKibben shows how the store-bought Christmas developed and how out of tune it is with our current lives, when we're really eager for family fellowship for community involvement, for contact with the natural world, and also for the blessed silence and peace that the season should offer. McKibben shows us how to return to a simpler and more enjoyable holiday.

Christmas is too wonderful a celebration to give up on, too precious a time simply to repeat the same empty gestures from year to year. This book will serve as a road map to a Christmas far more joyful than the ones you've known in the past.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This brief, eloquently presented book offers a simple and inviting strategy for handling the most complicated holiday of our times--Christmas. Reacting to the commercialization and overspending that has come to define it, author Bill McKibben (The End of Nature) argues in favor of only spending a hundred dollars at Christmas. Rather than grousing about the deterioration of Christmas, McKibben matter-of-factly explains that there was a time that giving extravagant presents may have been a satisfying and meaningful ritual. "The Christmas we now celebrate grew up at a time when Americans were mostly poor ... mostly working with their hands and backs," he writes. If we now feel burdened and unsatisfied by the piles of gifts and overconsuming, it is not because Christmas has changed all that much, he adds, "It's because we have."

What we need and long for now are the gifts of time, meaningful family connections, periods of silence, a relationship with the divine, McKibben writes. How to give and receive the Christmas gifts that matters? Make homemade presents (he even offers a chapter's worth of great ideas). Give children coupons for zoo visits or an evening devoted to playing board games. It's likely that McKibben, a former staff writer for The New Yorker, could launch a national movement with this inviting and sensible concept. But no matter how many dollars you spend, factor the cost of this book into your Christmas budget! --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

Environmental author McKibben (Maybe One; The End of Nature, etc.) makes an impassioned plea for a less consumer-oriented, more meaningful Christmas celebration. But this book is more than just an echo of the recent vogue for simplicity. Tracing the history of American observance of the holiday season, McKibben discusses both the needs such festivities have filled and the excesses and problems they have created. McKibben avoids the trap of nostalgia for a nonexistent time when Christmas was free of commercialism or drunken reveling, but he recognizes the current holiday frenzy, dread and depression as symptomatic of "the underlying discontent in our lives." He offers thoughtful "new forms of celebration" to fill the cravings for "silence and solitude," "connection with each other and the natural world" and "some relationship with the divine" that plague these times. McKibben also blasts "those relentless commercial forces" that lead Americans to annual overspending. Instead, he suggests making the holidays as much fun as possible, filled with song and food, creativity and connection. One hundred dollars, McKibben says, is not a magic number or even the point, but rather a simple reminder "to give things that matter." Begun as a project for the author's rural Methodist church, this slim book offers us tips on giving one another the priceless Christmas gifts of time, attention and fellowship. Agent, Gloria Loomis.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (December 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068485595X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684855950
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill McKibben is the author of The End of Nature, Deep Economy, and numerous other books. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Joyful celebration, not joyful materialism November 13, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

There's a lot in this little book. Christmas is a time of celebration. It is a time of giving. We must steal it back and "selfishly" give. Mr. McKibben just asks one thing. Try to only spend approximately $100 on gifts. There is nothing "cheap" about this. It's a simple monetary limit on tension, selfishness & joylessness. It proposes that we give of our most valuable commodity--time. Make things, take kids to a museum or on a nature walk and give that extra cash you have to charity or church as a gift. Food and time are two of the greatest and most appreciated gifts. A great quote: "Market capitalism, if it is as rational as its proponents always insist, cannot actually depend for its strength on the absurdly lavish celebration of the birth of a man who told us to give away everything that we have." How true. Thanks Bill. You speak for many who want a true Christmas of family love, joyfulness and spirit back.

p.s. He doesn't step on any toes--shop locally for presents if they are to be purchased he suggests. It keeps the local economy healthy and supports friends and family businesses that depend on Christmas for their income. Especially small bookstores where they know your face and maybe your name. Go pick up a copy now and make contact with a living human being. A true Christmas takes time--not money.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent feel-good book - wish it was longer.... November 6, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Gift-giving is a good thing, but our gifts can be less about monetary value and more about reaching out to one another. The idea is to give more of our time and care and less of extra stuff that most of us don't need. I gave the book four stars instead of five because it is too short! I would have liked to read more about alternative ideas for celebrating and making gifts. The description of how Christmas has evolved, while pertinent, was my least favorite part of the book. I truly enjoyed reading about how the author's family and friends celebrate Christmas with a minimum of materialism. This is a great book to start of the holidays by remembering what really matters.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking November 18, 2004

By Erika Mitchell TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This book is a call to reconsider our Christmas traditions, where they came from, and what we want from them. The book is extremely short, and can be read in only an hour or two, but the ideas in it are profound. McKibben begins by describing some of the details of how the American commercialization of Christmas came about in the early 1800s. At that time, wassailing was getting a bit out of hand, so some upper-class New Yorkers decided to reinvent the holiday around some more wholesome traditions of family celebrations and gift giving. As part of this movement, in 1818 Clement Moore brought St. Nicholas into the picture complete with reindeer on the roof with his famous "Twas the Night before Christmas". From there, the idea of centering the holiday on gift-giving grew and grew, much to the delight of department store owners, who were eager to add their own contributions to the holiday pantheon (such as Rudolph, courtesy Montgomery Wards).

McKibben asks us "Are you having fun? Are you enjoying your family's holiday traditions?" Or do you find yourself stressed out with all the competitive shopping and endless wrapping? Do the holidays leave your credit cards maxed out? He reminds us that the tradition of massive gift-giving at Christmas time is only a very recent one in this country. If it's not fun, if it doesn't fill your life with wonder and holiday spirit, why continue with it all?

Instead, McKibben suggests examining your own family traditions. Stop and think- -do you even remember what gifts you received for Christmas last year, or the Christmas before that? On the other hand, what elements of the Christmas celebrations of years past stand out most clearly in your memory?... For most, it is the fellowship of friends and family, the wonderful foods, and the music. The exchange of gifts is certainly prominent, but it's often not the actual gifts that are important, but the anticipation, the surprise, the humor, and the unveiling of the gift in the loving presence of all one's family members. McKibben points out that we don't need to spend a lot of money and buy a lot of gifts to enjoy a memorable Christmas. Homemade gifts, gifts to charities, coupons for future services or shared meals together will serve the purpose of gift exchange just as well. It's the love that will make the holiday, not the price tag. As for those who feel that Christmas should be about fulfilling all of our children's material dreams, McKibben reminds us "...if we make that the center of the holiday, we help school [the children] in the notion that transcendent joy comes from things."

The title of the book "Hundred Dollar Holiday" refers to the fact that $100 is the upper limit of what McKibben and his entire family spend on celebrating Christmas. He argues that by setting such a limit, it forces everyone in the family to be creative with their contributions to the holiday. The end result is a holiday season that doesn't feel rushed, but is filled with the warmth of family making gifts for each other, cooking and eating together, and most important, sharing time together.

Beyond suggesting setting a monetary limit, McKibben doesn't provide a lot of specific suggestions for how to re-make the holiday in this book. He includes some general ideas of alternatives to commercial gifts for family and friends, but there are no simple lists of things you can do to save money or cut corners. This is because each family is different, and they need to decide together how they can best enjoy the mystic spirit of the season. Read more ›

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a small little joy November 30, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

i pray that this book is not overlooked in the mad holiday shopping rush. that's exactly what it struggles against. to read mckibben's plan for a more peaceful and joyful holiday is like taking a warm bath--suddenly it all seems manageable again. my family and i will try to implement a variation of his plan (hundred dollar chanuka). i especially like the practical ideas, the how-to tips he gives for pulling it off.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Succinct but worth reading January 9, 2007

By Sarah Rollandini

Format:Hardcover

For any spiritual person looking to simplify life and get back to God, this is worth a read. It is only a start, however. I would recommend reading it along with Unplug the Christmas Machine for a more thorough overview of how to simplify Christmas.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle nudge for a different holiday now November 26, 2006

By JHAT

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I liked this book. I really enjoyed reading about the history of Christmas, especially in the United States. Though I knew some hazy details, like the invention of Santa Claus as roly-poly from "The Night Before Christmas," I did not know that so many of our traditions are fairly recent. Since I already like Bill McKibben's book, THE COMFORTING WHIRLWIND: GOD, JOB, AND THE SCALE OF CREATION, I was well disposed for another book by him. Here, at the end of November, I am glad to have a renewed focus on Christmas in our cultural setting, so that I will choose how to participate, instead of merely falling into it and being carried along with the season.