Skipping Christmas

Rating:
Summary: Mixed response
Review: As I look through the reviews of 'Skipping Christmas' I understand why the response is so mixed. My feeling is that many readers have expected a typical Grisham-style book and have ended up with less than they had hoped for. Skipping Christmas is NOT typical Grisham. John Grisham has taken a light-hearted look at the reactions when a couple decide to give Christmas a miss and go on a cruise instead.

Where the story falls down is in the detail. We are told that Luther Krank is only skipping Christmas to avoid the cost (not because Christmas is humbug). Why, then, would he avoid placing a Frosty on his roof? Why would he not go to the (no cost) firm's office party? There are lots of other details, too, that don't fit into Luther's original 'plan'.

Though Skipping Christmas is just a short, light-hearted read that lasts a few hours, I didn't find it particularly satisfying nor, despite the potential, did I find much humor in John Grisham's execution of the plot. It's marginally amusing but not much else.

Rating:
Summary: Do yourself a favor and SKIP this book!
Review: This book was boring and a waste of time. I only finished it because it was so short. The majority of the book deals with a family and their days before Christmas - nothing unusual or exciting. The ending was a little better than the majority of the book. If you must read because it is by Grisham, do not waste your money and get if from the library.

Rating:
Summary: John Grisham is a comic writer
Review: I've read several of Grisham's novels, and have enjoyed them all, Skipping Christmas, is no exception. I never knew he had such a flair for writing a comical, whimsical story, the main character, Luther, is a very funny study in what happens when one gets to overwhelmed by the holiday. I recommend this to anybody who has got the bah-humbug spirit, it may change your outlook.

Rating:
Summary: a nice seasonal choice
Review: For anyone who has ever thought about giving up all the "nonsense" that makes up the Christmas experience, this is a must read. Although it is a bit exaggerated and the family is wealthier than most readers, the book captures the "If it can go wrong, it will" reality in many of our lives. Readers may recognize one of their own family members or a neighbor in one of the characters, making this a fun read. With just a few hours of time, the reader can imagine, just once, what could be, and then be glad for what is. Read this book during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday period and be ready to smile.

Rating:
Summary: Should have been a magazine short story
Review: If your looking for a typical Grisham novel, think twice before buying this one. The story is very dull, not much depth. The story would have been cute as a 5 page short story in a magazine. I read it, hoping it would get better but it remained dull and boring.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful, first time reader of Grisham
Review: I never read a John Grisham book before until my friend gave me this to read last week. I got it done in one night and enjoyed it. I felt like I knew the characters and how they reacted to certain incidents very well. I would read it again around Christmas time next year.

Rating:
Summary: The joys of being "stalked" by your neighbors
Review: This book by John Grisham was described to my wife and myself by her stepmother as "uproarious" and impossible to put down. After Christmas, armed with a gift card to Barnes and Noble, I noticed the book in the store, and, reminded of our conversation, decided "Why not?" and purchased it.

My wife and I decided that, since it was a fairly short read, we would read a few chapters to each other before bedtime, looking forward to the fun promised. I have to say I was disillusioned by the time I got to the middle of the book, and the "No man is poor who has friends" ending, which began with "It's a Wonderful Life" and is perpetuated by people searching for the true meaning of Christmas without having to find something original did nothing to save the book.

The protagonists are Luther and Nora Krank, whose daughter, Blair, has just left for Peru and the Peace Corps after Thanksgiving. Luther is an accountant, and after totalling up the prior years' expenses on useless cards, presents and party expenses, decides that he is tired of blowing a good chunk of his salary every year for nothing. Since Blair's gone, he figures there is little reason to stick around, and he talks his perpetually naggy wife Nora into agreeing to take a cruise to the Caribbean over Christmas with him and to "skip Christmas" this year.

Luther's neighbors are a self-important lot, concerned more with appearances than with the actual meaning of Christmas, and, once word gets out that there will be no annual Krank Christmas party, and that they will not be putting up their Frosty the Snowman statue on their roof, thus screwing their neighborhood out of winning the neighborhood Christmas decoration competition, things rapidly go downhill.

Without trying to give too much of the plot away, let me just say that Nora, who agrees to the cruise in the first place, is a "fly in the ointment" throughout; a constant worrier who is, like the neighbors, more concerned with looking good, as far as her Christmas participation is concerned, than with being sensible. Lest this review be considered "sexist": if Luther had been portrayed in the same fashion he would have annoyed me equally.

The neighbors activate a networked campaign to alternately stalk and harass the Kranks for their non-participation in their street's Christmas activities. This did not make me smile but, rather, made me think that if this sort of behavior occurred in the real world rather than in a book, most of the offending neighbors would find themselves in court defending themselves.

I didn't find ONE character in the book, from the Kranks, to their neighbors, to their daughter, to the police(who should have been ending the neighbors' harassment but instead aided and abetted it)that was likable or memorable.

Sometimes books written by a well-known author are taken as masterpieces simply on the strength of the author's name. This book was simply unfunny, and while I can take a joke as well as the next guy, I spent the WHOLE book looking for at least ONE "uproarious" section. I failed in my search.

From my perspective, you would do yourself well to avoid the herd mentality, save yourself a few bucks, and SKIP "Skipping Christmas".

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: I wasn't sure how I'd react to a non-lawyer, non-thriller book by John Grisham. After all, I like the lawyers. I like the thrills. But, I received this book as a Christmas present, and I thought it looked interesting. Turns out, I like accountants too. This book is hilarious, bringing out a wickedly funny side of Grisham we only saw hints of in previous books. I actually laughed out loud, and more than once. This book will be a new Christmas classic. And I'll never look at a plastic snowman the same way.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Story
Review: This is a well written story that basically makes fun of American Christmas traditions in a subtle way. It doesn't directly make fun of them but makes you think about them and ask yourself if they are really all that important. In the end though, the ultimate Christmas lesson is learned. It is entertaining and a nice break from Grisham's usual story lines. It is also easy to read, taking no time at all. It is enjoyable the whole way through. I didn't find myself at any time struggling to get through a "boring" part to get on with the plot. It doesn't have to be Christmas time either to get the feel of what is going on. I didn't give it 5 stars because it was just "entertaining", not enthralling.

Rating:
Summary: A New Christmas Carol
Review: This is a Christmas story in the same vein as Dickens' Christmas Carol; in fact, the comparisons are quite striking. We have a Scrooge/Krank who decides that there is little value to the traditional Christmas celebration replete with extra expense and frivolous celebration. We have Marley's ghost/the daughter who "visits" the main character and reminds him of the reason for the season. We have a rallying of good will from friends, neighbors, and strangers that brings the novel to its happy conclusion that sometimes the best holidays are ones that herald the unexpected and still retain familiar elements. I liked the book. It is leisure reading, but so was Dickens.