The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 10 January 2022
by Edward Streeter
Every year, those of us who enjoy the winter holidays look forward to the opportunity to "get it right" this time around. And every year, it seems, it gets away from us. We awaken on January 2nd to feelings of regret and sadness, having not gotten quite the cozy and relaxed season we'd hoped for. We didn't get enough of those cozy moments with a hot toddy by the fire. Not enough quiet opening of modest and meaningful gifts. Not enough of a moment to reflect upon holidays past with rosy-tinted memory. Instead, it ended up being a mad rush, spending more money than we wanted on gifts of limited meaning and usefulness. Cargo ships full of useless plastic gewgaws from China are disgorged onto the floors beneath the Christmas trees in a hundred million homes. We had a little fun, a few good parties, too much food and not enough drink. The new year is upon us and it's back to the grind before doing it all again, starting earlier and earlier each autumn. Remarkably, this pattern established itself early in the 20th century, when manufacturers could produce mass quantities of products, and had the marketing dominance to sell it. Santa Claus's red suit could arguably be traced to originate in an old Coca-Cola ad. So, when you turn to a light Christmas season book like this one, written in 1956, it can be a little surprising how little the experience has actually changed for those of us hoping to enjoy our winter holidays, despite the advent of internet shopping and the folks celebrating that thing from the Seinfeld TV show instead.
George Baxter is a successful New York businessman, living uptown with his wife, and enjoying the empty-nest comforts of an apartment building with a doorman. He is doing pretty well, but he views the coming Christmas season with trepidation. This year, he thinks, finally, he will insist on the quiet and understated holiday of which he has dreams since long before his three kids and all of their grandchildren. He will also insist that he and his wife spend less money than in previous years. Indeed, what transpires here is very similar in plot to Streeter's other successful novel The Father of the Bride. George is overwhelmed by the commercial expectations of the season, and his obligations to send cards and/or gifts to people at the very edges of his social circle. When he presents his budget to his wife, it is, to him, the staggering sum of $500 (which comes out to well above $5000 in 2021 dollars, and who among us really spends five grand on Christmas or wants to?). Surely, George can afford this, but that doesn't stop him from complaining about it almost every minute of the way, while everyone else around him accepts the expense and extravagance of Christmas as a matter of course. There are bound to be a lot of readers who sympathize with George. Many of them will also see the wisdom of just quieting down and going with the flow. It's only once a year, right? But what of that magical quiet holiday by the fire, cozy in your New York apartment with a glowing tree? You might find that in there, if only for a moment.
The book is a speedy read, funny and sharp in that way one might term "drawing room comedy" or to be found in the funnier pieces in The New Yorker. We can easily imagine it being read aloud in a cozy living room, in a haze of cigarette smoke, everyone nursing a martini. And why not? Happy Christmas.
Also by Streeter: [Father of the Bride] [Dere Mable]