Skipping Christmas by John Grisham see more by John Grisham Studio Doubleday BooksLabel Doubleday Books

Closer Look List Price: £14.95 From: Doubleday Books From: Doubleday Books Salesrank: 288044 Released: 2002-11-30 You Save: £ (%)! Lowest New Price: Click Here  Pages: 177 Format: Hardcover Customer Rating: Also Shop International: (Not all items available internationally)          Skipping Christmas Editorial Review: John Grisham has turned a satirical eye on the overblown ritual of the festive season, and the result is Skipping Christmas, a modest but funny novel about the tyranny of December 25. Grisham's story revolves around a typical middle-aged American couple, Luther and Nora Krank. On the first Sunday after Thanksgiving they wave their daughter Blair off to Peru to work for the Peace Corps, and suddenly realise that "for the first time in her young and sheltered life Blair would spend Christmas away from home". Luther Krank sees his daughter's Christmas absence as an opportunity. An accountant, Luther quickly estimates that "a year earlier, the Luther Krank family had spent $6,100 on Christmas", and had "precious little to show for it". Luther makes an executive decision, telling his wife, friends and neighbours that "we won't do Christmas". Instead, Luther books a 10-day Caribbean cruise. All goes well until people get wind of the Kranks' subversive scheme. Everyone, from Christmas card salesmen to horrified neighbours, besieges the couple with questions; what about the Christmas party, carols and the erection of Frosty the Snowman? Things start to turn nasty in the local neighbourhood. Grisham builds up a funny but increasingly terrifying picture of how the tightknit community turn on the Kranks, who find themselves under increasing pressure to conform. As the tension mounts, will they ever manage to board their plane on December 25? Skipping Christmas is Grisham-lite, with none of the serious drama of earlier books such as The Pelican Brief, but a funny poke at the craziness of Christmas. --Jerry Brotton Customer Reviews: To read before Christmas! Not you usual Grisham book. It is much shorter than most of his other books, an eye opener and very funny! But not recommanded as a Christmas present... Reading Christmas The best book about christmas, its ideas and some ironic views on it. Far better than all related movies on the matter. A good read especially for parents with kids age 16-25 and for those kids. Dirk sends Fun... A fun easy read, get's you into the Christmas spirit. Much better than the film. A fun festive read We chose this book for our book club's December meeting in order to have something topical but not so long that it would interfere with all our festive preparations and outings. It was a good choice. It was written in a lighthearted way and if you have read other Grisham books you would not ever have guessed that this book was by the same author! Due to the length of the book you do not get a real feel for many of the characters, but that doesn't matter in this tome. It's more about a general attitude that envelopes us all in the build up to Christmas and how non pc it is to try and buck that trend. Season of Goodwill??? I don't think so! Not if some of the books characters are to be taken into consideration. At the beginning of the book, I found myself hoping that the efforts to "skip Christmas" would be unsuccessful and they would be forced to fall into step with the neighbours. However, as the book progressed I found myself, much against my better judgement, becoming quite sympathetic to their stance and began to side with them in their efforts to avoid all things festive. I won't spoil the book by giving the outcome as it is certainly worth a read. I'm not sure that the ending is the one that I would chosen, but having discussed it at book club, we decided that the jury was still out on that! Would like to read another Grisham written in this lighthearted vein, but a longer book, where the characters were given more depth. A refreshing change from John Grisham's usual fare John Grisham is of course famous for his legal thrillers; Skipping Christmas is a complete departure from that genre and whilst I wouldn't say a welcome one, certainly not an unwelcome one! Set in suburban America, the story explores the rituals and traditions of modern a commercialised Christmas for families and neighbourhoods. As you might gather from the title, the central characters (the Kranks) decide to eschew all of the aforementioned trappings and literally skip Christmas. Favouring the expense of a cruise over the expense of the Christmas holidays they plan their dream vacation, but as people start to find out their plans they start to realise just how Christmas really means to everyone around them as most are less than impressed with their lack of Christmas cheer! I don't want to give away anything more than the first few pages or blurb do but the events that ensure are very amusing and a host of well-written sterotyped characters, who many will likely identify in their own neighbourhoods really build the storyline up nicely as they conspire to try and force the Kranks to unskip their Christmas. Ultimately this story is about finding the true meaning of Christmas with family and friends and with a nice heart-warming end it is unlikely to offend anyone. Whilst the book is very very American in feel, and certainly doesn't relate to any sort of neighbourhood I've experienced in the UK, this in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the book as John Grisham rapidly engages you with the characters and situation with ease. In addition, if you've ever watched an American Christmas movie or anything remotely comedic set in a suburban US setting, you'll get the idea fine here! An entertaining read and an interesting piece from the prolific legal writer. Incidentally, this book was recently adapted into an enjoyable family Christmas film, "Christmas With The Kranks" with Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen, worth a look once you've read the book! Related Categories: >> >>Books >>Subjects >>Crime, Thrillers & Mystery >>Authors, A-Z >>G >>Grisham, John >>Hardbacks