Synopses & Reviews
A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana—the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film.The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American familys typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to Its a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.
This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parkers shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and fathers pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphies duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphies unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “Youll shoot your eye out, kid”?
The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickeys Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.
Synopsis
A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film.
The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family's typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.
This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker's shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father's pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie's duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie's unstoppable campaign to get Santa or anyone else to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid"?
The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.
Synopsis
The classic story that inspired the popular Yuletide film chronicles the lives of an American family's Christmas trials and joys in a small town in Depression-era Indiana, capturing Ralphie Parker's campaign to get a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas, his duel with bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill, his parents' battle over a suggestive leg lamp, and more.
About the Author
For many years a cult radio and cabaret personality in New York City, JEAN SHEPHERD was the creator of the popular film A Christmas Story, which is based on his novels In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, and which has become a holiday tradition on the Turner Network. Jean Shepherd passed away in 1999.
Table of Contents
Duel in the snow, or, 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.