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Summary: Is Steve Martin available??
Review: A quick, hilarious read that screams MOVIE. Steve Martin would be perfect as Luther.
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Summary: A funny, touching portrayal of the modern holiday season
Review: I picked "Skipping Christmas" up in Spain before I left and read it on the flight home. I had read several positive reviews from Amazon, and seeing as it was the holiday season, I thought that "Skipping Christmas" ("Una Navidad Diferente" en español) would be the perfect read to pass the time and help me to find my holiday spirit. Luther and Nora Krank have just seen their daughter Blair off at the airport, where she will be working with the Peace Corps in Peru. Nora is devastated, saying that Christmas without Blair just won't be the same, and Luther uses the opportunity to point out that last year, the Kranks had spent over $6,000 on gifts, food and clothes that had never been touched since. So Luther decides to sign the two of them up for a ten-day cruise, skipping the formalities of Christmas (i.e. expensive custom stationary, the Christmas tree, the rooftop Frosty, the annual party). With more than a touch of Dickens satire, things do not go as planned, and Scroogelike Luther suddenly finds himself embracing what he recently loathed, and in doing so finds the true meaning of Christmas. This was my first John Grisham book, but I loved his easy-to-read style, absorbing characters, and witty touches and descriptions. Although "Skipping Christmas" is a short read, it is most definitely a pleasant one that lets all of us take a much-needed breather from the hectic traffic jams, empty store shelves, and occasional stress of the Christmas season.
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Summary: A Fast and Funny Read about a Modern Day Scrooge
Review: The one thing that amazed me about this book is how fast I was able to read it. I only read Skipping Christmas on my bus rides back and forth from work which are only 20 minutes a day and I had this book finished in less than I week. I found the story enjoyable and very funny. Luther and Nora Krank's daughter Blair leaves home to join the Peace Corps on Thanksgiving weekend. Luther spends a sleepless night figuring out how much money they spent on Christmas last year, $6, 100 dollars. He decides to talk his wife Nora into taking a cruise instead of spending all that money on Christmas and Nora agrees due to the fact that her daughter will not be around. What happens next is the hilarious and sometimes rude reactions from the neighbors and friends due to the fact that the Kranks are not decorating, sending cards or buying presents. On Christmas Eve the Kranks do get a surprise which changes their plans at the last minute and this is when the book get even more hilarious. I found this book to be one of the most enjoyable Christmas stories that I have read in a very long time and Luther is definitely a modern day Scrooge. I highly recommend reading this one especially if you are looking for a fast and enjoyable read.
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Summary: An Uncommon Christmas Story
Review: Skipping Christmas is an entertaining look at the strain of the holiday season. Like A Painted House, it is a deviation from John Grisham's usual law-only plots. Skipping Christmas is a quick, light read. Many will be able to relate to Luther's frustration with the over-materialistic, non-stop hecticness that comes with Christmas. In Skipping Christmas, Luther convinces his wife Nora that with their only daughter away for the year that they should simply skip Christmas, take a year off from the chaos. The couple does not realize what an unpopular decision this will be. Friends and neighbors react with everything from quiet chagrin to out and out distain. The story has a few surprising plot twists, some entertaining, some frustrating with a nice storybook-type ending.
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Summary: Luther Crank gets 'Scrooged' in classic Christmas style
Review: This is one of the most fun books that I have read in a while. Actually, my wife and I read this book aloud to each other on a road trip during a Christmas vacation, so part of the joy was in the total experience. Nonetheless, Grisham knows how to tell a good story. Luther Crank is a modern day Scrooge. Enjoy this book during the holiday season!
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Summary: Starts with a bang ends with a whimper
Review: The book is very interesting it takes a glaring look at the commercial and pagan holiday. Luther chooses to not take part in this for financial reasons, but unfortunately his wife is not as strong as he is. In the end they succumbed the all of the pressure, harassment and ridicule of the neighbors; fearing to upset their inconsiderate daughter. It is sad that everyone was willing to lie to her, but unwilling to respect Luther (his wife included). The audio book moved well, but the ending seems to have been written by a different author.
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Summary: A WONDERFULLY FUN HOLIDAY TALE!!
Review: I completely fell in love with this Christmas story--of Luther and Nora Krank (who could think of a better last name?), who, in the absence of their only daughter, decide to "skip" the holiday season and take a cruise instead--the intent being to save thousands on "useless" gifts while maintaining their own sanity amidst the usual frenzied holiday chaos. The only thing they succeed in doing, however, is appearing "Kranky" and Scrooge-like to their neighbors and the surrounding community. When their daughter calls and announces that she is coming home for a surprise holiday visit--and bringing her Peruvian fiancee, so that he may see Christmas at its finest in America and in her neighborhood--the race is on to do everything that they had sworn that they were not going to do; buy the gifts, plan their annual Christmas Eve party (at this point, only hours in advance), beg people to attend, "steal" a Christmas tree, mount Frosty on the roof....and the list of hilarious shenanigans goes on. The best thing about this book was the ending..kudos to JG for wrapping this story up like the bow on a beautiful Christmas gift. They say good things come in small packages, and this holiday tale certainly proves this to be true.
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Summary: Good, light reading
Review: I read most of Grisham's books, so I couldn't past this one. It's a very different style and it doesn't even seem to be written by him, but it's a good book nonetheless. Light reading, funny and with a few twists in the middle.
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Summary: compulsively readable
Review: 'Skipping Christmas' provides the experience of reading a very good novel without actually knowing it. Its length and ease make it the book I turned to for quite some time when I had nothing to read or wanted some inspiration, in 2002, and as a result I read it numerous times in the first half of last year. Although different from the typical Grisham, I believe his mark is stamped all over it, and it has confirmed that it is the author who I appreciate, and not just the genre, to a greater extent than 'A Painted House'. This christmas tale is written with great perspicacity, and although it largely focuses on the negatives of christmas, is heart-warming nonetheless.
Luther is not scrooge, in my opinion, but the book does highlight how christmas loses its appeal when the youngest grow up, but paradoxically how this appeal is able to prevail despite this.
Very addictive and enjoyable, and I might just go and read it now...
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Summary: A different story
Review: first of all let me tell you how I read this book, it was december 29 and I went shopping with my wife, I saw a book store and bought this book, I started reading at 10 o'clock and finished that night, even if I don't celebrate X'mas I like very much this book, because when you do something every year you just can't skip it one year just because.
The book is very easy to read and it has a great message of friendship at the end, is a very nice story.
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