Rating: 
Summary: A tired grandmother
Review: Mr. Grisham, who is a native of Starkville, Mississippi,(home of Miss. State U.)has made many Mission trips to various parts of Brazil and nearby countries. He lived for some years in an area easily accessable to the to D.C. area. I believe he knows very well the prejudices of so many of our(USA) people, from Christmas house-top decorations to skin color. I laughed through four or five readings of his portrait of our love of ostentatious display, of how we ostracize one in our midst who is "different", and of how most of us are basically kind people.
I have given copies to friends both young and old. Now I am the one who thought the entire family was to be gone until after Christmas. A telephone call has given me two days to get ready for the first arrivals. I fear dried flowers and orange and yellow mums won't do.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy This Book
Review: That this book has been hyped to the top of the best seller lists is further depressing evidence of the decline of western civilization.
Rating: 
Summary: HoHum
Review: This was an "okay" book. A quick read, very predictable, very contrived for the holiday season. I would skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Xmas Story
Review: A great short story that will be a treasure for years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Christmas Craziness
Review: This is a funny, terribly true look at the way Christmas is performed by all too many people these days, myself included. As you read about the manic, torturous and tacky preparations and commercial excesses for Christmas that take place in this community you'll feel like pulling your hair out, just like a real Christmas experience! You'll feel overwhelmed and panicky and bored and slightly superior. You may get a twinge of the rebel spirit that the book's main character feels. The expense! The gauche decorations! The get-togethers with people you don't really relate to and the huge quantities of food and booze and work! You'll feel the claustrophobic pressures of shopping and the rat-race will almost make you shriek!
But then on Christmas Eve, the couple who has decided to skip Christmas faces a major emergency of hilarious proportions and the rat-race gets so much worse. I identified with Nora and Luther Krank and it just cracked me up the way our fed-up feelings dissipate under the magical power of the winter holidays.
This book shows in a very witty, satirical and funny way that you can't easily skip Christmas because no matter what crazy trappings you foolishly muck it up with, it still comes shining through bearing its gifts of joy and community and love.
This book has screenplay written all over it. Read it and smile at yourself and the culture of Christmas.
Rating:
Summary: A laughable,quick read, wholesome story
Review: I loved this book. John did a great job in relating the feelings a lot of people have about the drudgery of the Holidays. I related to Luther and his feelings. I can not imagine anyone not enjoying this short story. In the end I think what Luther did for the neighbors and his family deserved applause. I will be keeping this book to read again.
Rating:
Summary: Great little book that had me laughing out loud!
Review: This is a very entertaining book. Every year we say the same thing. We spend a fortune on gifts, food, wine and decorations. The day after Christmas we say "next year we're not doing this." Well, it's next year and the gifts have been bought, the (...) roast has been ordered, the wine is in the cellar and the decorations are up. So when I picked up this book and started to identify I almost cancelled everything...but then I read on...now I'm ALMOST sure we're doing the right thing. On top of remembering how important tradition can be it was one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. I was actually laughing out loud on the train. I mean not just smiling--laughing. I liked it so much it may become a tradition too. Can't wait for the next Grisham!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Christmas Classic!
Review: Finally, just in time for the hollidays, we recieve the pleasure of a novel that isn't afraid to fly in the face of custom. In a bit of a detour from his usual writing, John Grisham has created a work that is as much a social commentary as it is a family drama. It was clear that the blatant commerciality of our culture was the real catalyst that ignited this work, and, much like Ben Jonjak's recent brilliant novel "Glorious Failure", "Skipping Christmas" delivers a piercing social assesment. Contrary to "Glorious Failure", Grisham's work lacks teeth in the denoument. However, it is still a provocative read, and well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Garbage
Review: There's nothing in this book. No marginally developed characters, no story, no nothing. It's hard to believe! Do yourself a favor, read this book and know, with certainty, that you've read the most worthless book you'll ever read. As Pep Young once said, "If you can't be the best at something, be the worst; there's distinction in both directions."
Rating:
Summary: "Novel" Idea, But Not Superb
Review: Grisham's latest (and possibly smallest) novel "Skipping Christmas" offers a new approach to the season: Scrooge it. Luther, the main character, decides that since his daughter has joined the Peace Corps, he will skip the holiday and go on a cruise with his wife. What follows are weeks of satire, ostracism and disappointment. Though written by typical Grisham standards, the book fails to deliver somehow. I just don't feel the effort in this book that I felt in "A Painted House" or "A Time to Kill," because it is so short. There is no research on the author's part to further back the time period. Despite that, I like the idea of, instead of tauting Christmas as the hap-happiest time of the year, displaying it as a money-maker that leaves you with a sea of people all holding their hands out. A bit of a disappointing ending, but you smile nontheless.
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