I loved this book!  I was giggling to myself throughout and even pictured myself in this same situation.  Sometimes the holidays do seem so overwhelming and wouldn't it be nice to skip once and just relax.  But the holidays are just not the same without family, hectic or not.

“Skipping Christmas” is a short novel ( 3hours 42 minutes / 256 pages ) yet, by the time I was halfway through, I was tempted to skip the whole thing.

 

The book is about the tribulations of the Kranks, a middle-class American couple in their fifties, who decide that, as their daughter is away from home for the first time, they will skip Christmas and spend the money on a cruise instead.

 

I struggled in the first part of the book because Luther Krank is so hard to like. He is a  man who resents spending money on Christmas but doesn’t dare stop because his neighbours will disapprove. He is shallow, cowardly, seems to have little emotional connection to family or friends, is unconsciously racist and complacently privileged. Krank’s motives for skipping Christmas are venal and hard to embrace. The way he treats his neighbours as he executes his plan is unpleasant and childish. After a while, I began to realise that, if he got what he deserved, there would be no happy ending.

 

Even though it was first published in 2001, it feels more like something from a 1970’s sitcom. The neighbours are ruled by what others might think of them. The women plan charity events but don’t have a job. The men play “my salary is bigger than yours”.  Christmas parties are a licence  for married Partners in the firm to get drunk and grope “the homeliest secretaries”.  When a daughter in one of the families declares her intent to marry a foreigner, her parents are relieved that his skin is not as dark as they expected. Surely this can’t be modern-day suburban America?

 

There is a twist in the second half of the book that rescues the story from completely failing and redeems at least some of the characters but this is not “A Wonderful Life” but rather “A Life Slightly Less Awful”.

 

It didn’t fill me with Christmas cheer but it did make be very glad that I don’t live in the Krank’s neighbourhood.

“Skipping Christmas” is a short novel ( 3hours 42 minutes / 256 pages ) yet, by the time I was halfway through, I was tempted to skip the whole thing.

The book is about the tribulations of the Kranks, a middle-class American couple in their fifties, who decide that, as their daughter is away from home for the first time, they will skip Christmas and spend the money on a cruise instead.

I struggled in the first part of the book because Luther Krank is so hard to like. He is a man who resents spending money on Christmas but doesn’t dare stop because his neighbours will disapprove. He is shallow, cowardly, seems to have little emotional connection to family or friends, is unconsciously racist and complacently privileged. Krank’s motives for skipping Christmas are venal and hard to embrace. The way he treats his neighbours as he executes his plan is unpleasant and childish. After a while, I began to realise that, if he got what he deserved, there would be no happy ending.

Even though it was first published in 2001, it feels more like something from a 1970’s sitcom. The neighbours are ruled by what others might think of them. The women plan charity events but don’t have a job. The men play “my salary is bigger than yours”. Christmas parties are a licence for married Partners in the firm to get drunk and grope “the homeliest secretaries”. When a daughter in one of the families declares her intent to marry a foreigner, her parents are relieved that his skin is not as dark as they expected. Surely this can’t be modern-day suburban America?

There is a twist in the second half of the book that rescues the story from completely failing and redeems at least some of the characters but this is not “A Wonderful Life” but rather “A Life Slightly Less Awful”.

It didn’t fill me with Christmas cheer but it did make be very glad that I don’t live in the Krank’s neighbourhood.

By:  John Grisham

Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris

ASIN: B00005TQ1C

Publisher: Random House 

Publication Date: 11/6/2001

Format: Audio

My Rating: 3 Stars

 

If you have seen Christmas with the Kranks (2004) starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julie Gonzalo, René Lavan, and Dan Aykroyd, you almost forget the movie is based on John Grishman’s book, SKIPPING CHRISTMAS.

I have seen the movie several times over the years, and needed a fun audiobook with a day of working and website updates. Grisham provides plenty of entertaining fun, wit, and humor.

Basically, their only daughter is going away for Christmas, so the parents decide they will boycott Christmas, and plan a cruise to the Caribbean. No shopping, gifts, baking, parties, and all the commercial stuff. (we all would like to do this—I have done so many times--easier  when you live out of town).

What’s funny is the tanning bed. I was laughing out loud. The parents want to get a good tan and lose weight, botox injections to look good in the swimsuits, before their trip. The neighbors get mad, then there is Frosty. Quirky and crazy.

At the minute their daughter calls. She is coming home for Christmas, having met a doctor. She has told him all about her parent’s famous holiday parties. They have twelve hours to pull off a party.

 

They are scrambling to pull off a Christmas holiday to keep up the pretenses. Everyone has an opinion. The neighbors all pull together with the help of some outsiders. If you want some laughs, get the audio, narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris, and watch the DVD.

Having read most all of Grisham’s legal crime thrillers, it was fun seeing a different side of the author.

 

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences–and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined. A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

Amazon.com

 

 

 

Luther and Nora Krank just put their daughter on a plane to Peru to start her stint in the Peace Corps. Typically known for their all-out Christmas parties and general festive-ness, the Kranks aren't quite sure what to do with themselves this holiday season. Their daughter doesn't plan to be able to come back in time for this year's Christmas, so their hearts just aren't in the holiday mood this time around. Luther, an accountant, decides to look at the cost of Christmases past... just for funzies, you know... and is shocked to find last year alone cost him $6,100 -- over $6000 just to spread holiday cheer for one month! Luther's not having it this year. Instead he comes up with the idea to skip Christmas, take that money typically set aside for gifts, decoration, food, etc and put it into a Caribbean cruise, a cruise they'll start on Christmas day. Nora is hesitant at first, but she can't argue with Luther's logic for long. For the next week or so they find themselves politely turning away neighborhood decorating commitees, tree sellers, Christmas card companies.... all the vendors who typically rely on the Kranks' business. All is going well until Christmas day when a surprise phone call has them scrambling to backtrack and catch up on all they've been trying to avoid this season.

 

Man, back in the day I used to eat up the Grisham novels. But for some reason I haven't touched any of his books in years, though I still have a number of them unread on my shelves now (I'm working my way back round, really!). This one was sort of always in the back of my mind to get to one day but I'm just now making that a reality this year. It was either last year or the year before I saw the movie adaptation, Christmas With The Kranks, with Tim Allen & Jamie Lee Curtis as Luther and Nora. Gotta say, on this one I have to give it to the movie adaptation. Not to say this novella was bad, not at all. Just happened to prefer the screen version this time around. Had to crack up though when Luther mentions gifting his daughter a Walkman, making me check the copyright date on this story because my last gifted Walkman was about 3rd-4th grade I think. Copyright says 2001 though. Pretty sure we at least had advanced to Discmans by then, but hey it gives me a nice nostalgic laugh now.

 

I couldn't quite pinpoint exactly why, but I found myself liking book Luther less and less as the story progressed. Maybe because there are a few moments where book Luther does make some comments that are borderline distasteful, just rubbed me wrong a little and maybe spoiled him as a character for me after that. Still a pretty enjoyable holiday read that I would recommend for those days in between all the holiday craziness when you JUST need a minute to yourself with a warm mug of something nice and some freakin' peace already... I know ya feel me ;-)