Friday, November 14, 2008

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits

THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS: HOW CHARLES DICKENS’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL RESCUED HIS CAREER AND REVIVED OUR HOLIDAY SPIRITS: Les Standiford: Crown Publishers:241 pages: nonfiction

“A Christmas Carol,” through its thousands of retellings, adaptations, and productions, has become part of “the DNA of Western civilization.” (Man Who Invented Christmas, page 196) The centerpiece of this engaging book is certainly the story of the creation of “A Christmas Carol.” But the book is also an absorbing and readable biography of Charles Dickens and is filled with interesting facts about the history of Christmas, the history of publishing and of Dickens’s other novels. Who knew that the geese raising industry in England was sent to near ruin by “A Christmas Carol”?

Like Dickens “A Christmas Carol,” Les Standiford’s book about Charles Dickens’s most famous book was published just in the nick of time for Christmas, making it a great option for gift giving or for reading pleasure during the season.

SH

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