Merry Christmas America: A Front Yard View of the Holidays [Paperback]

Christina Patoski (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

For two decades, from the Bronx to L.A., Patoski has been taking pictures of holiday-decorated front yards. In this fascinating collection of displays ranging from the conventional to the bizarre, Patoski offer something for everyone--an enchanting view of the holidays that could tempt even Scrooge to put a light in the window! 100 color photos.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In celebration of the amateur artists across the U.S. who emerge each December to make holiday canvases of their homes, Merry Christmas America presents about 100 nighttime photos of houses and yards transformed into holiday wonderlands. Many are outrageously tacky or garish, others are sparsely elegant; all are an appealing tribute to the American folk-art tradition of bringing the holiday spectacle into the front yard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Portable Publishing (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565660714
• ISBN-13: 978-1565660717
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,204,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deck those halls!, November 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Merry Christmas America: A Front Yard View of the Holidays (Paperback)

An exuberant tribute to the American passion for outdoor decorating at Christmas, this photographic collection is as good as bundling the family in the car to cruise the neighborhood displays. It just might inspire you to leave your Christmas lights up year round.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Light Displays, November 12, 2003

By 

Lisa Colver (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merry Christmas America: A Front Yard View of the Holidays (Paperback)

So far this is the only photo book I could find that focuses on Christmas light displays. The author/photographer does a great job showing some amazingly large Christmas light displays, as well as smaller uniquely decorated homes too. It's a lot of fun to browse through. I just wish there were a hardback edition available to put on my coffee table at Christmas time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tejas Gato, December 27, 2008

By 

Gatto Pazzesco "KJN" (Fort Worth, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merry Christmas America: A Front Yard View of the Holidays (Paperback)

This book is the best photo ensemble of Christmas lights I have EVER seen. This perspective of the "other" decorators and celebrators of Christmas. It allows you to study and get into the hearts and minds of the homeowners we pass by and/or ignore, typically. Unlike the previous, scolding reviewer of the book stating that it was "tacky" for photographing trailor park and lower middle-class displays of lights, I found this book to be so thoughtful and unique. It gave me pause and true delight to see how some of these (tacky?) people decorate and celebrate Christmas. This book is something unexpected and FABULOUS in every way and worth every penny, by NOT being the "overblown" , commercial perfection of light displays we have come to expect. I also found it to be humbling at times. Thank you for putting such a magnifico book together Ms. Patoski!