MacDonald P. Jackson

Though the subject of this book interests me a great deal, specifically this writer and Christmas literature in general, Mr. Jackson's efforts were as dry as a popcorn fart.

My main criticism of the book is that it is slow and laboring and dense with numbers and alleged statistical proofs that Moore did not write the poem in question. Chapter after chapter of painstaking detail about the mean and standard deviation of how many times the author used the word "the" in his corpus of work were show more enough to wear me down. Mr. Jackson's primary tool to convince us of his thesis is to bury us with mathematical data.

Secondarily, I was put off Mr. Jackson's early supposition that Moore did not write this poem. From the very first chapter of the book, I sensed a bias against Moore being the author. Jackson's handling of the evidence was not even-handed. Facts he dismissed in favor of Livingston, were used with full vigor against Moore. He did not give the reader an opportunity to form their own opinion about the authorship.

This exciting debate could have been handled with more enthusiasm and less bias. I was completely disappointed in this book. show less

This in-depth work on the famous poem is described by the highly qualified author as a 'short monograph' whose aim is to 'establish the truth of the matter, or, at the very least, to determine where the probabilities lie,' in relation to the work's question. This is an apt quick description, as the poem is dissected over its content, such as reindeer's names, rhyme patterns, meter, word use and repetition. To clarify the possible authorship, Em.Prof. Jackson further delves into the minutae show more of language complexity with phoneme structure and pairing, use and frequency of definite or indefinite articles, adjectival preferences, and 'quirks of style,' that may be identified in other securely attributed works of Clement Clarke Moore and Henry Livingston. This discussion leaves the usual paradigm of English literary prose and is illustrated by numerous tables and graphs that itemise, sometimes painfully, the statistical (percentile) comparisons of word use frequency by the possible two authors in their other works, and compares this with the percentiles that certain words, names, and other features appeared in the actual poem in question.

The work is of very high scholarly quality, in that it is meticulously referenced using a combined in-text and footnote system, and covers every conceivable angle of argument that might be presented either for or against both possible poets. For the reader's further analysis he includes several useful appendices with selected poems and prose of both poets that are of key importance to the body of his text, as well as lists of known poetic works of the two. These additions make up almost a quarter of the whole book. Jackson is very certain in the end about the authorship of the poem itself as belonging to Livingston, but does the argumentative process justice with due weighing of all possibilities along the way; he only gives his definitive position in the last sentence of the conclusion.

In sum, it is a work of complex research and is delivered as such; this makes it both a valuable source for the intensive literary analyst, but a difficult read for the layman, at times. Some chapters are much more easy-going in the nature of the discussion, but it is more of a challenge when mathematical analyses of word use are spelled out in prose; nonetheless such instances were clearly necessary elements to the study. It is highly recommended to those with a scholarly research mindset (especially of English literature), in that it provides a good example of critical analysis, treating the subject in a fine forensic manner, weighing suitable evidence to pronounce judgement. show less

In its own way, this is a delightful literary foray into deciding who the actual author of "The Night Before Christmas" was. Certainly today most would say Moore.

Jackson uses modern technology, LION (Literature Online), to do an in-depth comparison between the poetry of the two men, to look at changes that occurred through copyists, and at languages used in the various recensions.

He makes a powerful case for his choice of who the real author was. My question is simply, why didn't the real show more author sign his work at the time?? show less

Before reading this book, I was aware of the question as to whether Clement C. Moore or Henry Livingston had originally written "The Night Before Christmas." However, I never expected the degree of specifics that Jackson includes in his book. An impressive amount of research went into this study.

I must admit, I rather enjoyed reading most of Who Wrote "The Night Before Christmas"? … although some of it was intense. I also have to confess I skipped over a few portions of it, such as the show more tables illustrating the words and phonemes favored by both Moore and Livingston.

Most of all, I found it interesting to realize how mathematical models and statistical analysis assist to the degree they do in the study of authorship attribution when it is unclear who may have written a particular work. It was a fascinating book.

By the way, there is a wonderful image on the cover of Santa in his toy-laden sleigh being pulled through the sky by eight reindeer. I thought of another question -- who drew that delightful picture? I could not find credit to the artist … only that the image was from the book, The Night Before Christmas or a Visit of St. Nicolaus (New York: McLoughlin Bros., 1896, in Van Deusen-Kosinski Collection). show less