Jean Shepherd

The stories that inspired a popular holiday film chronicle an American family's trials and joys in a small town in Depression-era Indiana, capturing Ralphie Potter's campaign to get a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas, his duel with bullies, and other epi

A Christmas Story

Sarah Sammis

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.

Sarahi Flores

It was an entertaining book and it brought a lot of nostalgia from the movie. But unfortunately it’s way different from the movie. The events are in different order and it doesn’t stop until Christmas. 
I fue I can understand why they the movie adaption wanted to squeeze everything in before Christmas because the title speaks for itself right?

I still find it good to read it. The imagination and the drama for a child is funny to read because when you were a child, a conflict back then was the end of the world than right now as an adult. 

It’s a 3.5 stars for me. It was a fast pace book, hope you all like it.

Andrada D

I think this was really misleading - I was waiting for a novelisation of the series and, instead, got four essays. But they were GOOD essays. Great even. They comprise the humorous core of the movie and the extra details are just hilarious. Overall, I'm so glad I decided to pick it up 😊

A Christmas Story

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