John Grisham turns a satirical eye on the overblown ritual of the festive holiday season, and the result isSkipping 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 they suddenly realize 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. He estimates that "a year earlier, the Luther Krank family had spent $6,100 on Christmas," and have "precious little to show for it." So he makes an executive decision, telling his wife, friends, and neighbors that "we won't do Christmas." Instead, Luther books a 10-day Caribbean cruise. But things start to turn nasty when horrified neighbors get wind of the Krank's subversive scheme and besiege the couple with questions about their decision.
Grisham builds up a funny but increasingly terrifying picture of how this tight-knit community turns on the Kranks, who find themselves under increasing pressure to conform. As the tension mounts, readers may wonder whether they will manage to board their plane on Christmas day.Skipping Christmas is Grisham-lite, with none of the serious action or drama of his legal thrillers, but a funny poke at the craziness of Christmas.--Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk
Refreshing Holiday Tale! Go Frosty! I hesitated reading it. I liked the early 'classic' Grishams, but did not like the shift in genre with "the Painted House" and was appropriately cautious when approaching this book. I was very pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is a quick read. Yes, the main character's last name is too obvious. However, I could quickly sympathize with the main character's desire to just skip the commercial trappings of Christmas, just once! It was cathartic to watch someone else swim against the tide of commercialism. The plot twists were not expected at all (maybe I am just slow) but worked out nicely. Was the ending a little smaltzy? Sort of, but I still thought it was a good ending. I rarely buy Grisham in hardcover, but I have added this one to my library of holiday books. Maybe not the book to read on Christmas Eve by the fire, but give it a try before you start decorating, shopping and writing Christmas cards and you may just look at the frenzy with a fresh view. Finally, be prepared to laugh. The mental image evoked by a certain rooftop scene reduced me to tears. I agree with another reviewer that this could very well be made into a movie and completely agree with Steve Martin as the main character! Enjoy!!
Excellent book. Good ending. I enjoyed this one although I do wish it had been a bit longer. Good story and excellent finish. John Grisham did it again!Skipping Christmas I thought this book was hilarious! I felt for the poor guy in the book knowing how sometimes Christmas can become ridiculous and not focusing on the things that it is supposed to be about.
