tkerodd's Full Review: John Grisham - Skipping Christmas
Visiting relatives can be tedious at times, but can also open up opportunities. For example, in our pre-Christmas travels this year I was able to read the latest John Grisham offering, Skipping Christmas. It is a great book to read during the holiday season; it gives a different perspective on the Christmas holiday and will make you laugh at the same time.
The story follows a tax accountant named Luther Krank, who is weary this Christmas season. His daughter has just left to join the Peace Corp, leaving Luther and wife Nora to spend Christmas alone for the first time. Luther, being a good accountant, crunches the numbers and comes up with a great idea: they will simply skip Christmas, and instead take a wonderful Caribbean cruise! It is a good idea...until their friends and neighbors get wind of it. The story follows Luther and Nora as they dodge the Christmas "traditions" that we all face, all the way up to Christmas itself.
Unlike many of Grisham's works, this one has a lot of humor. The descriptions of the various characters are wonderful, and some of them will remind you of people you know. I think Grisham shows the reader a side that he has not revealed before. He is indeed able to write a fun and lighthearted story that doesn't have the first attorney involved. For those that find Grisham to be formulaic, this book may be his answer.
As a CPA, the only part of the book that rubbed me the wrong way was Grisham's reliance on stereotypes for accountants. He describes Krank as having hollow eyes, wrinkled shirts, and prep school wannabe ties. Accountants are shown to only care about the bottom line, and to really be boring people. This is far from the truth (at least in my case). But in spite of this one flaw I still found the book enjoyable. Actually, Grisham used a very accountant-like thought process in showing how Krank decided to skip Christmas.
When you read this story, you will probably find yourself wishing that you could leave the hustle and bustle of the holidays and sneak away to the Caribbean for a long vacation. But to some, the Christmas traditions of putting up trees and lights, fighting crowds, and spending money are appealing. I think they will like this book too, as they read about the pro-Christmas neighbors and their crusade to turn Luther around to their point of view.
In short, this is a good read for the holiday season, and can easily be finished in an afternoon.
Luther and Nora Krank are fed up with the chaos of Christmas. The endless shopping lists, the frenzied dashes through the mall, the hassle of decorati...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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