Would you believe me if I said I’ve never seen A Christmas Story?! Book is surprisingly (at least to me!) a compilation of short stories that inspired the movie. It was different than I expected. Maybe I’ll have to watch the movie now! This was also my December “Read Across America” Challenge pick to wrap up the year.

A very cute, entertaining read

All delightful short stories, but a little disorienting if you're reading them 1) with the film and mind and 2) stripped of the context of the book from which they are drawn. The organization may be true to the order in which the stories appear in 'In God We Trust…' (and I can't remember if this is so) but it's wild that the first story here is the actual Christmas story, and the others just the ancillary components, like fighting the bully or losing a holiday Turkey to neighbor hounds. It's a minor complaint but I'd have liked the arrangement of tales to end with Christmas and the BB gun, rather than begin there.

Besides that, it's familiar and beloved material told by a master raconteur.

And this is maybe an odd place to air this opinion but I don't know where else I might: the knowledge that these stories were openly semi-autobiographical, as well as Shepherd being cagey his entire life about what was true and what wasn't, has really sapped me of any ability to read these stories as even being autobiographical. That is, perhaps knowing I can't know what to trust, my mind just defaults to being mistrustful. That's a little disappointing, as he seems like such an interesting character that I'd love to believe all or most of this content is genuine. It's not a remark on him perhaps, but on myself as a reader, and maybe on the potential consequences for a certain sort of reader about writing in a semi autobiographical way.

It's my traditional holiday experience to read or listen to this book, always a joy (except most of the stereotypical Bumpus's chapter). I vicariously enjoy an old-fashioned, snowy, child-like holiday in the American midwest instead of the modern sunny California Christmas.

After having seen the movie more times than I can recall, I still found the book a joy to read. Some subtle differences from the book to the screen, but essentially the same story. Shepard is quite funny and the story relating the tale of their infamous neighbors the Bumpuses was particularly hilarious.

I’ve had my fill of Christmas and it’s only the ninth of December!

The reason is after years of promising myself, I finally read Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. And my book club selection was A Christmas Story: The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film by Jean Shepard. The first created our modern Christmas. The second, well, the second was the basis for a gag-filled, funny movie. Both are touchstones of modern, American Christmases

I’m not a Dickens fan but in reading these two short works almost simultaneously, I was surprised by one thing: even though I’m separated from Dickens by the Atlantic and one-hundred and seventy years and unfamiliarity with the Victorian world and a familiarity with the the settings — if not the times —- of Shepherd’s stories, I so much more preferred Dickens to Shepherd.

I’ve given some thought to this. It’s not like I’m was surprised by the narrative. They’re pretty much what I’ve seen on the TV for decades. It’s not that I knew that after Jean Shepherd divorced his second wife, he completely ignored his under seven son and daughter he’d had with her for the rest of his life. Dickens’ wasn’t a great husband or father either. (Then again, he at least didn’t publicly deny their existence and did support his children.)

I finally realized why I liked Scrooge’s story over Ralphie’s. It’s that Dickens is Charles freakin’ Dickens and Shepherd is, well, Jean Shepherd.

Dickens can be “a vein of saccharine sentimentalism”, true. But it is called A Christmas Carol. People are wanting saccharine sentimentalism. Ayway, it is leavened with rather dark passages that offer great balance. In fact, there’s one scene that Dicken’s writes that I’ve never seen touched on the the many films. It’s part of the tour that the Second Ghost gives Scrooge.

“Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea—on, on—until, being far away, as he told Scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; dark, ghostly figures in their several stations; but every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it. And every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some extent in its festivities; and had remember those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him.”

I found that wonderful and joyous. It’s Christmas.

Compare that to the moment after the Bumpesses hounds ruined the Christmas turkey. In the short story, it’s actually an Easter ham.






“Finally, he [the old man] spoke, in a low, rasping voice: “All right! OK! Get your coats. We’re going to the Chinese joint. We’re going to have chop suey.”

Ordinarily, this would have been a gala of the highest order, going to the chop-suey joint. Today, it had all the gaiety of a funeral procession. The meal was eaten completely in silence.”

Not quite a chorus of Chinese Fa-La-La-La-La’s of the film, is it? Not very....Christmas-y, really?

In other not-so-obvious ways, you can feel the sharp edge of post-modernism — or is it nihilism? Well, whatever -ism it is that tells you not to have joy in this world — creeping it’s way into stories.

The final thing that turned me off a bit to Shepherd was, again, the Bumpuses. The family — not just the dogs — is detailed in the story. I found it offensive. While Dickens almost beatifies the poor. Shepherd depiction is so full of cultural smears and stereotypes that would be considered very bad taste if applied to another group of people. And Shepherd just keeps going on and on with pilling cliche after cliche on them including a mention of father-daughter incest. It just got tiring.

With A Christmas Story, stick to the movie. With A Christmas Carol, read the book...and watch the 113 movies made of it.

I listened to this book while walking my dog, and it was entertaining, especially since equipped with sound effects and songs. The narrator was great, and this was read more as short stories, which I learned are autobiographical. Honestly, I feel like I’ve seen the movie, but it was not nearly as memorable as this book! I found some parts relatable, and yes, I was one of those non-Ovaltijne families!

I hate to admit this, but I think "A Christmas Story"the movie, is better than the book. I know, quite a rarity, but in my humble opinion, true.

Jean Shepherd wrote these five unrelated novellas. Someone then took them, poured them all into a bowl, stirred them around, and out popped a heck of a good movie.

I'll admit, I've never been a huge fan of the now cult classic movie "A Christmas Story." As such, I was a bit hesitant about reading this collection of short stories by Jean Shepherd, on which the movie was based. Luckily, I was very pleasantly surprised. I finally learned what I'm sure countless others already knew -- Mr. Shepherd was a master of wit! Each of the stories, told from the point of view of a boy who lives in Indiana in the 1930s, are semi-autobiographical accounts of Jean Shepherd's own childhood. In these shorts Mr. Shepherd captures amusing bits of Americana as seen through the eyes of a precocious lad named Ralphie Parker.

If you enjoy a hearty guffaw, read this book.

Such a funny book! I have watched this movie every Christmas for years but never read the book! Even though I think the movie was better I still think this was great, so glad I finally read it!

05/15/07
A Christmas Story is a series of semi-autobiographical short stories by humorist Jean Shepherd. They were first published in Playboy in the mid 1960s. These stories were later put together to make the very funny film of the same title in 1983. The book in its current form was published posthumously in 2003.

The short stories which now act as chapters are:

* "Duel in the Snow, or the Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid"
* "The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message, or the ASP Strikes Again"
* "My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award that Heralded the Birth of Pop Art"
* "Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil"
* "The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds"

Of these stories, my favorite two are "My Old Man..." and "...Bumpus Hounds." The first covers the scene with the lamp and I'm just a fan of that sort of kitsch. Reading his family's reaction to the lamp always makes me smile and laugh. The "...Bumpus Hounds" story closes out the book with a tale of the worst neighbors imaginable and how they ruined the Easter ham. It's the description of the house's deterioration and the hordes of animals that crack me up in that story.

Overall, A Christmas Story is a very quick read. It's only a 124 pages. I think the film takes longer to watch the book does to read! The book interestingly has less swearing than the film which surprised me.

Dick Cavert is brilliant as the narrator, with his dry wit. I absolutely loved listening while on my commute to & from work with a smile on my face and an occasional yelp of laughter!
I also listened to this book while making a 3 hour drive to and from relatives in PA last weekend and it was very enjoyable - some reviewers said they didn't like Dick Cavett's narration, but I thought he was great - I've always loved him.