Skipping Christmas
Encyclopedia
Skipping Christmas is a comedy
novel
by John Grisham
. It was published by Doubleday on November 6, 2001 and reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list on December 9.
The book was adapted for the 2004 film Christmas with the Kranks
by screenwriter Chris Columbus
and recorded by actor Dennis Boutsikaris
and released as a 4-CD audiobook by the Random House Audio Publishing Group
in October 2006.
holiday. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving
, the two bring their daughter Blair to the airport, where she departs for a year-long assignment in a remote area of Peru
with the Peace Corps
. Nora bemoans the fact the upcoming Christmas will be their first time they are separated as a family, prompting her husband to calculate how much they spent celebrating the holidays the prior year. When he realizes they have little to show for the $6,100 they invested in decorations, gifts, and entertaining, he decides to skip all the hubbub at home and surprise Nora by booking a ten-day Caribbean
Cruise
aboard the Island Princess
.
It doesn't take long for Nora to adjust to the idea of no Christmas shopping, no Christmas tree
, and no Christmas Eve
party they host every year. To the couple's amazement, their neighbors on Hemlock Street strongly object to their decision to boycott the holiday, because their decision not to decorate their home will jeopardize their winning the coveted prize for best decorated block in the neighborhood. The local Boy Scout
troop is dismayed when the Kranks refuse to support them by purchasing a tree, the police are angered when they decline to buy a calendar, the fruitcakes salesmen are shocked to find that they will not be buying a fruitcake this year, and the stationer is upset when he loses their annual order of engraved greeting cards. Luther and Nora find themselves the objects of derision and anxiously await their departure on Christmas Day.
Without warning, Blair calls on Christmas Eve to tell them she's at Miami International Airport
, en route home with her Peruvian fiancé as a surprise for her parents. She's anxious to introduce Enrique to her family's holiday traditions, and when she asks if they're having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes, much to Luther's dismay. Comic chaos ensues as the couple finds themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with mere hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law's arrival. When the Boy Scouts are sold out of Christmas trees, Luther arranges to borrow the tree of a neighbor leaving for the holidays. He and Vic Frohmeyer's son Spike try to transport it across the street, but the neighbors notice and think that Luther is stealing the family's Christmas tree and they phone the police, leaving Luther to barely escape arrest.
At the end Luther attempts to set up a Frosty the Snowman decoration on his roof, but fails and barely escapes possible death. After noticing the scene, the Kranks admit the truth and are rescued by everyone they've alienated, who pull together and provide the Christmas celebration Blair is expecting. Blair calls before the party can be started saying she has arrived. After successfully keeping Blair and her fiance busy so the party can get started, Luther gives in to celebrating Christmas and gives the cruise package to a neighbor who he doesn't get along with very well, and who is having a very bad Christmas because his wife may have a terminal disease.
observed, "For all its clever curmudgeonly edge and minor charms, no way does this Christmas yarn from Grisham rank with A Christmas Carol
, as the publisher claims. Nor does it rank with Grisham's own best work. The premise is terrific, as you'd expect from Grisham . . . But as clever as this setup is, its elaboration is ho-hum. There's a good reason why nearly all classic Christmas tales rely on an element of fantasy, for, literarily at least, Christmas is a time of miracles. Grisham sticks to the mundane, however, and his story lacks magic for that . . . The misanthropy
in this short novel makes a good antidote to the more cloying Christmas tales, and the book is fun to read. To compare it to Dickens
, however, is...humbug."
Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly
graded the book C+ and commented, "Even at 177 minipages, Skipping Christmas feels padded . . . Despite a few nicely observed details . . . Grisham mostly trades in stale fruitcake jokes and sub–Christmas Vacation
slapstick
. Like his recent coming-of-age
novel, A Painted House
, Skipping represents a departure for the king of the legal thrillers, but in this case, it's to an unworthy destination."
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
. It was published by Doubleday on November 6, 2001 and reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list on December 9.
The book was adapted for the 2004 film Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Joe Roth and starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. The screenplay by Chris Columbus is based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.-Plot:...
by screenwriter Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
and recorded by actor Dennis Boutsikaris
Dennis Boutsikaris
Dennis Boutsikaris is an American two-time Obie-Award winning character actor. He is a Broadway Actor and frequent television guest star and leading man in made-for-TV movies...
and released as a 4-CD audiobook by the Random House Audio Publishing Group
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in October 2006.
Plot
The story focus on how Luther and Nora Krank try to avoid the frenzy traditionally experienced during the ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
holiday. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
, the two bring their daughter Blair to the airport, where she departs for a year-long assignment in a remote area of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
with the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. Nora bemoans the fact the upcoming Christmas will be their first time they are separated as a family, prompting her husband to calculate how much they spent celebrating the holidays the prior year. When he realizes they have little to show for the $6,100 they invested in decorations, gifts, and entertaining, he decides to skip all the hubbub at home and surprise Nora by booking a ten-day Caribbean
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
Cruise
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
aboard the Island Princess
Island Princess
Island Princess is a cruise ship for the Princess Cruises line. She is the sister ship to the Coral Princess and together they are the only Panamax ships in Princess's fleet. Built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique - France. The ship features a combined diesel and gas turbine electric powerplant. This...
.
It doesn't take long for Nora to adjust to the idea of no Christmas shopping, no Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
, and no Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
party they host every year. To the couple's amazement, their neighbors on Hemlock Street strongly object to their decision to boycott the holiday, because their decision not to decorate their home will jeopardize their winning the coveted prize for best decorated block in the neighborhood. The local Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
troop is dismayed when the Kranks refuse to support them by purchasing a tree, the police are angered when they decline to buy a calendar, the fruitcakes salesmen are shocked to find that they will not be buying a fruitcake this year, and the stationer is upset when he loses their annual order of engraved greeting cards. Luther and Nora find themselves the objects of derision and anxiously await their departure on Christmas Day.
Without warning, Blair calls on Christmas Eve to tell them she's at Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
, en route home with her Peruvian fiancé as a surprise for her parents. She's anxious to introduce Enrique to her family's holiday traditions, and when she asks if they're having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes, much to Luther's dismay. Comic chaos ensues as the couple finds themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with mere hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law's arrival. When the Boy Scouts are sold out of Christmas trees, Luther arranges to borrow the tree of a neighbor leaving for the holidays. He and Vic Frohmeyer's son Spike try to transport it across the street, but the neighbors notice and think that Luther is stealing the family's Christmas tree and they phone the police, leaving Luther to barely escape arrest.
At the end Luther attempts to set up a Frosty the Snowman decoration on his roof, but fails and barely escapes possible death. After noticing the scene, the Kranks admit the truth and are rescued by everyone they've alienated, who pull together and provide the Christmas celebration Blair is expecting. Blair calls before the party can be started saying she has arrived. After successfully keeping Blair and her fiance busy so the party can get started, Luther gives in to celebrating Christmas and gives the cruise package to a neighbor who he doesn't get along with very well, and who is having a very bad Christmas because his wife may have a terminal disease.
Critical reception
Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
observed, "For all its clever curmudgeonly edge and minor charms, no way does this Christmas yarn from Grisham rank with A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, as the publisher claims. Nor does it rank with Grisham's own best work. The premise is terrific, as you'd expect from Grisham . . . But as clever as this setup is, its elaboration is ho-hum. There's a good reason why nearly all classic Christmas tales rely on an element of fantasy, for, literarily at least, Christmas is a time of miracles. Grisham sticks to the mundane, however, and his story lacks magic for that . . . The misanthropy
Misanthropy
Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
in this short novel makes a good antidote to the more cloying Christmas tales, and the book is fun to read. To compare it to Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, however, is...humbug."
Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
graded the book C+ and commented, "Even at 177 minipages, Skipping Christmas feels padded . . . Despite a few nicely observed details . . . Grisham mostly trades in stale fruitcake jokes and sub–Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Christmas Vacation is a 1989 Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the third installment in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, and was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon Magazine, Christmas ‘59...
slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
. Like his recent coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
novel, A Painted House
A Painted House
A Painted House is a February 2001 novel by American author John Grisham.Inspired by his childhood in Arkansas, it is Grisham's first major work outside the legal thriller genre in which he established himself...
, Skipping represents a departure for the king of the legal thrillers, but in this case, it's to an unworthy destination."