A Literary Christmas: Great Contemporary Christmas Stories (Hardcover)

~ Lilly Golden (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this treasury of seasonal tales, the common theme is often just a peg on which a heavy cloak is hung. To be sure, there is an occasional snowfall, a slow dawning of warm feeling for humanity (or at least family), a Christmas ham and even a starving urchin. But it is their distinctively modern mien that truly unites these 27 stories and makes this volume a worthy addition to the shelf the Christmas works of Dickens and O. Henry have anchored for so long. For every story with what Golden calls an "emphasis on communion in a secular sense," such as Leo Rosten's "The Night of the Magi" and Ron Carlson's "The H Street Sledding Record," a sweet paean to love and family life, there is one about loneliness and disaffection, such as Patricia Highsmith's "A Clock Ticks at Christmas" and Hortense Calisher's "A Christmas Carillon." With stories by Italo Calvino and Ivan Klima, which offer social commentary in fable form, one can experience a postmodern Christmas; then again, stories by Grace Paley, Sean O'Faolain, Ntozake Shange and Toni Cade Bambara depict multicultural Christmases. Noel as seen here may not always be joyous, but it is certainly sophisticated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Throughout the centuries, many authors have graced readers with their literary visions of Christmas. This collection features stories by Anne Beattie, Raymond Carver, Italo Calvino, Tobias Wolff, and other contemporary authors that celebrate the spirit of Christmas present. "Wonderful to read aloud or savor quietly."--Booklist. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr; First edition. edition (November 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087113490X
• ISBN-13: 978-0871134905
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,930,684 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another In A Great Series Of Literary Collections, June 28, 2001

By	Jon G. Jackson "j_dog_jackson" (Santa Rosa, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Literary Christmas: Great Contemporary Christmas Stories (Paperback)

Lilly Golden and Larry Dark have put together a remarkable series of collections over the years. All of them are "Literary" collections of short stories. Then again, it's probably more accurate to describe them as "Literary" collections of *contemporary* short stories. Each year, we're faced with numerous warm and "feel good" books and CDs bearing a traditional Christmas theme. This one is more than refreshingly different. As a psychiatrist therapist, I'm all too familiar with what Christmas *really* means to a substantial number of people in our country. This book contains a cross-section of gritty and realistic stories that just happen to take place around that holiday. An early selection is Paul Auster's penetrating "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," the core around which his later film "Smoke" was constructed. My favorite, though, is Mark Richard's "The Birds For Christmas," in which two hospitalized boys conspire to be able to watch Hitchcock's classic film way late on Christmas night. 27 stories in all, most by well-known masters of the form (O'Connor, Wolff, Shange, Dillard, Disch, Calvino, Beattie, Carver, Smiley, Boll, and Bradbury, to name a few). You'll probably have to find your copy used or remaindered, unfortunately. But they *are* still out there! Go get one!

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary Tales Put Modern Spin on Christmas, December 18, 2005

By	Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Literary Christmas: Great Contemporary Christmas Stories (Paperback)

Not everyone comes from a two-parent home in the suburbs with a cozy fireplace and a tree laden with sentimental ornaments. The editors of this volume did an outstanding job of selecting tales of Christmases you won't see gracing a Hallmark card, but still have lots of seasonal joy and wisdom to impart.

Whether you're reading Frank O'Connor's tale of sibling rivalry, Patricia Highsmith's ode to loneliness, or my personal favorite by Mark Richard of two hospitalized boys who want nothing more than to watch "The Birds" on Christmas Eve, you will enjoy the insights into the human heart which each story profoundly uncovers.

This isn't Dickens or even O'Henry, but it is a marvelous collection of twenty-seven gritty and realistic stories set at Christmas. The wide range of emotions and situations isn't idealistic, but for many they are as symbolic of Christmas as mistletoe and holly.