Politically Correct Holiday Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

James Finn Garner (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

The #1 bestselling author of "Once Upon a More Enlightened Time" reads his "Politically Correct" holiday gift. Holiday tales have long delighted and entertained us, but until now they've always been burdened with society's skewed values and mores. Stories that reinforce the stifling class system (Dickens' "A Christmas Carol)," legitimize the stereotype of a merry, overweight patriarchal oppressor (Santa Claus in "The Night Before Christmas)" and justify the domestication and subjugation of wild animals "(Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)" abound in the literature and lore of this season. Now James Finn Garner has stepped in to revise and improve these familiar tales to free our social consciousness from the ghost of prejudice past. From the newly revised "Twas the Night Before Solstice" to "Rudolph the Nasally Empowered Reindeer," these stories rekindle the true holiday spirit and redefine the idea of "good will to all men" to include womyn, pre-adults and companion animals as well. Yes, the international bestselling author of "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" and "Once Upon a More Enlightened Time" is back again, to offer a holiday gift that will fit all sizes, welcome all persuasions and nonpersuasions, and be treasured for politically correct generations to come.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Finn Garner is a writer and performer whose last two books, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories and Once Upon A More Enlightened Time, are international bestsellers. Called "a master of the tour de force" by The Washington Post and a "smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep" by The London Daily Telegraph, Garner feels the truth lies somewhere in between. He lives in Chicago with his wife/lifemate and their pre-adult.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged Version edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671534521
• ISBN-13: 978-0671534523
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Books on Cassette > Humor
  • #37 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction

More About the Author

James Finn Garner's best known book is "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", which spent 64 weeks on the New York Times Best-seller list, including six weeks in the top position. The book was also a best-seller in England and Canada, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Its sequels, "Once Upon A More Enlightened Time" and "Politically Correct Holiday Stories", were also best sellers sold around the world.

His most recent book is the seminal Clown Noir, "Honk Honk, My Darling: A Rex Koko, Private Clown Mystery." His other books include "Recut Madness: Favorite Films Retold for Your Partisan Pleasure" and "Apocalypse WOW: A Memoir for the End of Time".

A former columnist with Chicago Magazine, Garner has broadcast commentaries on National Public Radio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't make the grade much with me, January 1, 2011

By 

Marie T. "snobird6" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Politically Correct Holiday Stories (The Politically Correct Storybook) (Kindle Edition)

I guess I'm not one who wishes to be politically correct! After just a few lines of each story, I began to get tired of the "politically correctness" of it, except for the first one. Others probably love it, though. I did finish all the stories, just didn't care for them. By the time I got to the l-o-n-g Christmas Carol I really had "had it" ! But then, satire has never been something I loved.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of the same and not enough of it, September 23, 2007

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Politically Correct Holiday Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season (Audio Cassette)

PC Holiday Stories has JF Garner applying his standard palette of ultra-far-left lampooning to the topic of Holiday tales. He tackles (or should I say pokes) such venerable classics as Moore's "The Night Before Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman" and Dickens' "A Christmas Story," but not enough to do much damage. Garner even seems to break character by criticizing the very position from which he purports to write. Having St. Nick tell the eco-friendly parents in "Twas the Night" to "Get over themselves" was hardly the way a hyper-PC writer would have ended the tale. The stories are flat and almost predictable. The endings are lame and obvious targets of satire skitter by, unpummelled. It's telling that Garner left most of the religious tales alone. WHile one would not expect a satirical look at the doings in Bethlehem (Monty Python covered this quite well) how about "The Little Drummer Boy?" It seems that after his initial success with PC Bedtime stories, Garner is just playing it safe and phoning in his work.

The adaptation of the Scrooge story was especially tiresome and borrowed more that a little language from the original. Characters and situations received wan facelifts. Scrooge's last spirit, for instance was an inarticulate punker (so far so good), that Garner didn't do much with. This comes across less as "homage" than as laziness. Given the plethora of existing Scrooge rip-offs and parodies, Garner's version was rather pale.

Get this for a stocking stuffer if you must, but don't expect it to be the rollicking hit of the season.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed "Bedtime Stories" much more., December 12, 2000

By 

Betti Trapp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Politically Correct Holiday Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season (Audio Cassette)

I looked forward to this book, because I thought "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" was so funny. This was disappointing. The Rudolph story was okay, and Frosty was okay too, but all in all, the book was a great step down from "Bedtime Stories." Mr. Garner seems to have lost some of his clever wit, and he spends way too much time on Ebenezer Scrooge. That story turns out dry and extremely dull, I muddled through that one, and because Mr. Garner takes such length with it, it turns out to be half of the book. Not funny this time, Mr. Garner. Sorry.