The Twelve Terrors of Christmas [Hardcover]

John Updike (Author), Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2006

Edward Gorey's off-kilter depictions of Yuletide mayhem and John Updike's wryly jaundiced text examine a dozen Christmas traditions with a decidedly wheezy ho-ho-ho. This long out-of-print classic is the perfect stocking-stuffer for any bah humbug. 32 pages, smyth-sewn casebound book, with jacket.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Pomegranate Communications; 5th Printing edition (May 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764937103
• ISBN-13: 978-0764937101
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > General

More About the Author

John Updike was born in 1932, in Shillington, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Harvard College in 1954, and spent a year in Oxford, England, at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. From 1955 to 1957 he was a member of the staff of The New Yorker, and since 1957 lived in Massachusetts. He was the father of four children and the author of more than fifty books, including collections of short stories, poems, essays, and criticism. His novels won the Pulitzer Prize (twice), the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Rosenthal Award, and the Howells Medal. A previous collection of essays, Hugging the Shore, received the 1983 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. John Updike died on January 27, 2009, at the age of 76.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Humbug, December 10, 2007

By 

J. Fischer "Joygerm" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Twelve Terrors of Christmas (Hardcover)

Bah to those who found this book slight and unfunny. This is the anti-Christmas cold pricklies for those who don't enjoy the warm fuzzies of the season (and even for those who do). This is a sarcastic, cynical look at some Christmas traditions, and I found it funny and even a little insightful. I thought the illustrations were gloomy and in keeping with the tone of the book. Ebenezer Scrooge would have kept this book on his coffee table, but he was probably too cheap to buy it. A nice gift for someone who prefers hemlock to holly and avoids mistletoe.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deck the Halls - Bluntly, July 30, 2008

By 

Bruce Cormack "finger pointer" (Jamaica Plain, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Twelve Terrors of Christmas (Hardcover)

The Twelve Terrors is as demented as I'd hoped for. John Updike's prose gives Christmas the kick in the teeth it secretly wants, and Edward Gorey's illustrations are just the right wrapping paper for the beating.

I'm only disappointed that Updike isn't as good a vehicle for Gorey's illustrations as Gorey himself. I was hoping for another dose Gashlycrumb Tinies (Gorey at his best) but I set my hopes too high with this collaboration.

Twelve Terrors is a bedtime story that steers kids away from piggish consumerism, carries them through angry cynicism, and finally ushers them into thoughtful enlightenment.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious like terrified plum pudding, June 1, 2007

By 

Jaclyn Balancia "Cheshire Cat" (VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Twelve Terrors of Christmas (Hardcover)

A lovely volume of pure Gorey-esque mystique. If you are familiar with Mr. Gorey's fashion of examining the world, you will not be disappointed. If you have not tasted the decadent simplicity of evil delight that feeds the macabre monster, this, my friend, is your Christmas goose.