Rating: 
Summary: A Classic for Kids and Adults
Review: I have always been a fan of the movie "A Christmas Story," and I can't even remember where or when I heard that it was based on Jean Shepherd's "In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash," but I do remember that rushed to the bookstore I work at (on my day off) and ordered in 10 copies. I read the book the night it came in and sold the remaining 9 copies the next day. I repeat this ritual every year adding more copies to my order each and every time. This book simply fantastic and I have never heard anyone say they didn't like it. The irony of Sheperd's narrative combined with the memories of childhood make a perfect post-Christmas read. No one can re-tell events as well as Shepherd except for maybe David Sedaris (Naked, Barrel Fever).
I usually cringe when books are made into movies, yet this story is so great that nothing could do it injustice.
I can't praise this book enough. Set in midwest during the depression, Shepherd shows that although times were tough, families were still families. This book is sometimes painfully, yet comically real, and I can't say that any other book has made me want to be as kid again - nor make me want to have a family - as much as Shepherd's.
Rating:
Summary: Last trace of the master
Review: I imagine that most people will come to this book like I did, from the movie A Christmas Story. First off, this book isn't primarily about Christmas - only the second chapter is. The movie takes several chapters of the book and sets them all at Christmastime. The book is much more bleak than the movie. There really isn't a story. Ralph, now a newspaperman in the 1960's, goes back to his hometown to write an article. The whole book takes place in an afternoon of telling stories with Flick, who now runs a local bar. In the book, everywhere is the reality of the Depression and the bleakness of the Midwest.I'm glad I read the book. I recommend it. But I have to say that this is one of the instances in which the movie is actually better. I was genuinely sad to find out the fate of poor Schwartz. To me, I will always think of this story in movie-form: of Chinese Turkey, of Flick's tongue stuck to the telephone poll, and Ralphie saying "FUDGE!!!" (Only he didn't say "fudge").
Rating: 
Summary: Different from the movie
Review: I imagine that most people will come to this book like I did, from the movie A Christmas Story. First off, this book isn't primarily about Christmas - only the second chapter is. The movie takes several chapters of the book and sets them all at Christmastime. The book is much more bleak than the movie. There really isn't a story. Ralph, now a newspaperman in the 1960's, goes back to his hometown to write an article. The whole book takes place in an afternoon of telling stories with Flick, who now runs a local bar. In the book, everywhere is the reality of the Depression and the bleakness of the Midwest. I'm glad I read the book. I recommend it. But I have to say that this is one of the instances in which the movie is actually better. I was genuinely sad to find out the fate of poor Schwartz. To me, I will always think of this story in movie-form: of Chinese Turkey, of Flick's tongue stuck to the telephone poll, and Ralphie saying "FUDGE!!!" (Only he didn't say "fudge").
Rating:
Summary: This book is a hug for the heart
Review: I purchased "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" when it was published in 1966 and I still have it today, 32 years later. Although Ralphie and his friends are beloved creations from the mind of Jean Shepherd, one of this Centuries funniest and most beloved Authors, their misadventures in mythical Homan Indiana have the bittersweet ring of truth for all of us who remember through laughter (and tears) what it meant to grow up back in an "age of innocence" which, sadly, today's children have been denied. Jean Shepherd knows the human heart intimately and his masterful writing makes us really care about these kids, who are to me as real as any I grew up with in the 1950's and who will always have a place in my heart, if I live to be 100!
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: I recommend F.P. Kopp's "Everything is True Except the Parts I Made Up" in addition to this book. (also available on amazon.)
Rating:
Summary: Last trace of the master
Review: I see from the posted reviews that most people know Jean Shepherd from his books and movies -- all of which are great -- but that was not his primary medium, the medium in which he excelled far beyond anyone either living or dead: radio. Mr. Shepherd had a half hour radio show just about every night in New York City in the 1960's, and possibly back into the 1950's. It was a hypnotic show, and he had a vast following. I used to scrunch down under the covers in bed with my transistor radio to catch his virtuosos performance every chance I got. He was a wild guy. I think he was thrown off the air at least once for disparaging the quality of his own advertisers! One time he almost started a riot at Coney Island. He was totally irreverent. And the uncontested kind of radio patter. I was always amazed at how fresh and funny he was, night after night. It's a shame we don't have any of those shows as recordings. All we've got is the books and movies. Oh well. Time marches on. Just wanted you to know this man's real genius. I can still hear his theme music . . . it sounded like horses lining up at a race track and charging forward madly. The man definitely had a message.
Rating: 
Summary: I was disappointed
Review: I thought this book was going to be a sure thing, as any huge fan of the movie "A Christmas Story" would think as he picked up the book upon which it was partially based. In the beginning passages of In God We Trust, we are treated to some of the great moments from the excellent holiday film, including Ralphie's desperate wish for a Red Ryder pump action bb gun for Christmas, his father's legendary battles with the basement furnace, and the delivery of dad's "major award", a lamp resembling a cabaret dancer's sensuous leg. But then the fictional memoir seems to veer off track, and by the end I had trouble staying interested. The novel is narrated by an adult Ralph, who has come back to his boyhood home of Hohman Indiana and finds his old friend Flick tending a neighborhood bar. Viewers of the film may remember Flick as the poor recipient of a "double dog dare", who stuck his tongue to a frozen pole with dire consequences. The form of the novel is loose to say the least, and we are treated to Ralph's reminisces including a passage about trying to pick up girls at a New York art musuem, as well as a painstakingly boring chapter about a man who bought excessive fireworks for the Fourth of July and blew up the mighty "Dago Bomb." Quite simply, some of the stories (especially those portrayed in the movie) worked quite well, other times Shepherd's humor missed its mark. Maybe I am a little sentimental, and want Ralphie to perpetually stay about 12 years old, terrorized by bullies, and desperately wishing for his gun. However those of you who are expecting a book full of childhood reminisces like those portrayed in A Christmas Story may be disappointed like I was.
Rating:
Summary: Another Shep fan from the early 60's
Review: I, too, was among the vast aray of folks listenting to their radios late into the evening while "Shep" spun his tales on WOR from 11:15 to Midnight. I actually own (and will not sell) an autographed first edition of this book. As another reviewer noted, a lot of this is about being male and growning up in America. "Shep" managed to distill the essence of what it was to be a "kid" in an American town. He set his tales in the mid-west but it could have been anywhere USA. This man also got me to read. It started with the poetry of Robert Service (I can still remember the look on my English teachers face when I recited "The Cremation of Sam McGee" during a poetry class -- all the male kids woke up.) Thanks Shep!
Rating:
Summary: Two American Classics -A Book and an Author
Review: In 1967, I was a regular listener of Mr. Shepard's radio show on WOR in New York. My English teacher at the time was also a Shepard fan. One day he told me that a Jean Shepard book called "In God We Trust" had been published, and wondered out loud if I would enjoy reading it. Up until this time, I was not a big reader. However, this seemed like a Big Deal to me. After all, this was a book written by the same guy who talked right to me, every night, from the old Philco 5 tube radio next to my bed. A book by Jean Shepard? I had never known someone who had written a book. (That's the way it was with Shepard...if you listened to his show, you felt like you knew him. And he knew you.) So, with all of the resolve a 7th grade kid can muster, I located and read the book, cover to cover. Twice. My sainted english teacher was no dummy. So, when it came time for us to pick a short story to read aload in class, he let me read Shep. Despite a few questionable worlds (this WAS 1997 after all), I was a hit. Well, Mr. Shepard was a hit. Here I am, some 30 years later (gulp) buying the same book as a Chirstmas present for a friend. I doubt that kids today would find this book all that funny or interesting, but if you remember when the Peacock was on NBC the first time, I'll bet this book will make you laugh. If you are on the fence about this one, go ahead and find out just what you have been missing. By the way, last I read Mr. Shepard was living in Florida, talking away on Ham radio (K2ORS) and enjoying life.
Rating:
Summary: "In God We Trust" is a Great Book from a Great Writer.
Review: Jean Shepherd is dead, but his genius lives on. Shepherd is one of the great writers of our time. Nobody has ever written with more insight into the child's mind. I could rave on about the literary merits of his work, but let's cut to the chase... "In God We Trust, All Other's Pay Cash" is laugh out loud funny! If you were lucky enough to have heard Shepherd on WOR radio it's even better, since Shep's voice will echo in your head. I love Jean Shepherd. I wanted to be Jean Shepherd. Buy this book and pass it on.
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