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Title: Christmas in America: A History by Penne L. Restad ISBN: 0-19-510980-5 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: December, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Serious students of the Holidays phenomenon take note:
Comment: Restad knows her stuff and doesn't hesitate to engage controversial aspects of the season. This is part of an ongoing conversation, and should be read in dialogue with the (in my mind) better book, The Battle for Christmas by Nissenbaum. However, Restad's book is an excellent one for anyone who seeks to understand the "whys" of the cultural traditions that bombard us. As well as get some handle on the "hows" of doing things differently in your own life.
Rating: 5
Summary: America's values and conflicts as seen through Christmas.
Comment: Author Penne Restad has written an excellent historical account of how the evolution of Christmas in America since colonial times parallels the evolution of the American collective mind. Going beyond the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, America's favorite holiday has been molded in the last 300 years by the idiosyncracies and anxieties of the American people, these being reflected, for example, in gift-giving customs, the use of evergreen trees, or more poignantly in the nation's portrayal of Santa Claus. I was truly fascinated with the wealth of information Ms. Restad presented in this serious, objective book. Think for a moment that Christmas was not observed universally in America until well into the nineteenth century, especially after the Civil War; before then, a rather lukewarm observance of the holiday was not public and basically was determined by religious and ethnic background (a reflection of the days when our country's idea of nationhood was still in its formative stage). The book also covers in detail the changes Christmas brought to the celebrations of Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Ms. Restad's narrative of our celebration of Christmas brings to light the complexities of the American psyche; we become enmeshed in conflicts between the sacred and profane, the spiritual and material (the celebration of Christmas in the antebellum South could not escape the dichotomy of freedom and slavery as well). Even as it prompts us to confront and come to terms with these conflicts, "Christmas in America: A History" also acknowledges the feeling of generosity, good will, and universal brotherhood the holiday inspires in us as a people; it is a work of great scholarship.
Rating: 5
Summary: I read it in manuscript.Finally makes sense of American Xmas
Comment: This is a really accessible and entertaining book about the
holiday. Recommended very highly
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Title: The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum ISBN: 0679740384 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 28 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Inventing Christmas : How Our Holiday Came to Be by Jock Elliott ISBN: 0810934930 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift from the Ages by Earl W., Phd Count, Alice Lawson Count, Dan Wakefield ISBN: 1569752354 Publisher: Ulysses Press Pub. Date: 30 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Encyclopedia of Christmas by Tanya Gulevich, Mary Ann Stavros-Lanning ISBN: 0780804554 Publisher: Omnigraphics, Inc. Pub. Date: 22 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday by Karal Ann Marling ISBN: 0674006798 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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