I found this good-condition hardcover at the Used Book Superstore during their store-closing sale, and thought it looked like an entertaining holiday release. It's a collection from a variety of authors on the theme of "enduring the holidays", from John Waters' hilariously over-the-top ode to "Why I Love Christmas" (which includes the charming idea of collecting the Consumer Affairs "worst toy" of the year) to Chris Radant's account of the family that doesn't understand him (with a nicely heartwarming finish: "They never understood my 'alternative' ways and yet they've tolerated me all this time"), to David Sedaris' insanely dark short story "Christmas Means Giving". Along the way I enjoyed "How To Mix a Christmas Wassail" (in which much, much alcohol is involved); Mark Twain's surprising (to me) "Susie's Letter From Santa"; Dave Barry's very funny "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"; George Plimpton's "The Compleat Shopper", in which he considers what to get people who pretty much have everything (with a budget of $1,000 apiece) - unlikely scenario, but entertaining to read about; and the (late, lamented) David Rakoff's delightfully dry "Christmas Freud," an account of his stint playing Sigmund Freud in a store window on Madison Avenue.

I plan to leave this book on a bench or outdoor sculpture at around 4:30 or so, when I stop by the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released for the D for December challenge, for "Dreaded". ***

*** Released for the 2012 Christmas/Holiday challenge. ***

Found this at the Decordova! Reading in the airports / day of travel home to Iowa City for the holidays. It looked interesting and thought the project would benefit from my toting along to a town with a rich reading and writing tradition...