Goodness! I didn't realize I'd had this for almost a year! I saved it for Christmas time on purpose, thinking it would be a good, festive holiday read. Once I pulled it out, mid-month, to put it in the Christmas reading pile, I realized it might be a little too pessimistic and might squelch my holiday spirit. So, I read a couple chapters and put it away for later. A couple days after Christmas, I decided to finish it up since it was still "in season". I spent the last afternoon of 2018 finishing it up and must say that I'm not feeling as down as I thought I might be.

From my perspective as a Christian, Christmas is a stand-in celebration day for the actually unknown date of Christ's birth. We honor his day of death (which we actually do know) so it makes sense to honor his day of birth, as well. I don't harbor any grandiose ideas that Christmas started out as, or even should be, a specifically religious holiday---I know enough of its history to know that's not the case. Still, we can make anything and any day glorify God and that's what Christians have done with December 25th. That all said, it was very interesting to read Stuever's point of view regarding the things he experienced during Frisco's Christmas season, as he is a nonreligious gay liberal man and I am a conservative Christian woman who believes the gay lifestyle to be a sin. The surprising parts might not be what you'd expect them to be...

My favorite good part of this story was the experience the author had shopping for Angel Tree gifts. A lot of Christians think we're the only ones capable of generosity toward strangers. I've found that to be very untrue, and actually somewhat the opposite, more times than I'd like to think about. God made humans with compassionate hearts and many unbelievers still act in ways that very well represent the heart of God. Unfortunately, what he later finds out about how Angel Tree operates is really disappointing to both him and to me.

I think the saddest parts I read about his personal experiences were the times when it was obvious he was searching for something "magical" in Christmas---searching for what it's "supposed" to be. What he's searching for will only be found in Christ, cliche as that sounds. I imagine he would both chuckle and cringe at that statement.

The character of Tammie first made me laugh ("things not in nature..." Ha!) but later made me angry. The amount of presents she bought for her kids was disgusting. I can't even imagine---what a waste!

I researched Jeff and Bridgette (ok, fine, I Facebook-stalked them) and wasn't surprised to find out they'd divorced. That's sad but she was so mean and ungrateful to Jeff. At one point she says he'd be pretty much nothing without her. Looks like she's pretty much wrong there as he's still putting on awesome light shows for the city of Frisco and looks to be happily remarried to someone kind-looking. Yay for him.

A few other fun mentions were the Muskogee display, which my son just went to last week with his girlfriend's family, as well as the dancing light display featuring Mariah Carey's most famously annoying "All I Want For Christmas Is You". Our town has a display featuring that, as well.

Overall, I'm glad I read this. While I don't feel our family is in danger of this kind of excess, we can still get a little caught up in what the secular world wants Christmas to be. Christmas, like a relationship with the Lord, is personal and is whatever you make it to be. As for me and my house, I hope we'll always spend Christmas giving glory to God and making happy memories together. ( )

Quotes and Notes:

"Just you think about that hard scrabble life the next time your wondering through Old Navy." most of the west can be summed up with this quote, massive shopping centers have refaced the landsscape making it harder to imagine and further seperates us.

very good ( )

very good ( )

3.5***

Stuever is a reporter and this non-fiction work chronicles his time spent in a suburb of Dallas Texas as the city and its families prepared for Christmas 2006. Porter’s reading of this work is quite good. He gets the cadence and rhythm of speech of his subjects, which brings a certain life to the work.

This is Christmas before the economy took a tumble, before mass foreclosures and lay-offs. When consumerism was still king, and especially so in the wealthier made-for-commerce suburban “country” communities like the one that Stuever visited, studied and reported on. He leaves no stone unturned. He works side-by-side with Tammy, a woman whose seasonal business “Two Elves With a Twist” has her decorating the homes of women who are either too busy, or feel inadequately prepared or talented to achieve the glossy magazine-ready decors they hire Tammy to produce. In another effort he helps the non-profit organization that puts out the “Angel” trees in churches all over the county. He also spends time following Carol, a single mother of three (one of whom is a married adult no longer living at home), as well as Jeff and Bridget who have a light display that has achieved national fame.

The book is fairly reported, but I think Stuever struggles with whether he feels his subjects have the right Christmas spirit, or are missing it entirely. There is a certain wistfulness to some sections, especially when something reminds Stuever of his own childhood Christmases. Not all the stories are happy ones. At the end Stuever returns to check in with his subjects a year or two later and reports on the differences – jobs lost, babies born, successful endeavors, and some not quite so successful. But this reader was left with a feeling of “is that all there is?” Still, I think it’s well written, and performed well by Porter. It gave me a lot to think about. ( )