∎ Read Gratis A Christmas Story The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film Jean Shepherd 9780767916226 Books

A Christmas Story The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film Jean Shepherd 9780767916226 Books

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A Christmas Story The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film Jean Shepherd 9780767916226 Books

For many people, Christmas isn't Christmas unless you sit down to watch the "A Christmas Story" on TBS on Christmas Eve. We all know the classic lines: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid." "Oh, fuuuddgge!" "He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny!" "I triple-DOG dare ya!" You might be surprised that only one of these phrases actually came from this book.

The book, like the movie, is the quintessential look at life in Depression-era Upper Midwest America. Back before the internet invaded our lives, back before satellite/cable TV, heck, even before black-and-white-rabbit-ears TV, the primary means of entertainment was radio, which people listened to every evening: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, and Red Ryder. I don't have to explain the overwhelming desire that Ralphy has for the Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle, all because of this radio show.

It might surprise many that the book has little in common with the Christmas movie. The book moves through five interrelated stories, starting with the BB gun story, and progressing through the months after Christmas, ending with the Bumpus Hounds stealing the EASTER ham and the family going to the "Chop Suey place" for their Easter dinner. Kind of a letdown. Shepherd wrote the screenplay to the movie, and he incorporated the stories of the secret decoder ring, the leg lamp, the bully, the Bumpus hounds, and of course, the Red Ryder BB gun, into a coherent and sensible script. I'm glad he wrote it this way; it makes for a much better Christmas tradition and taste of Americana.

The narration by Dick Cavett was pretty good, but there were instances in which his voice was simply overwhelmed by the sound effects. Yes, sound effects. Christmas carols, jingling bells, hounds baying, the kitchen sink gurgling, all of it got in the way. At first, it was cute, but as the book progressed, the sound effects guy got carried away.

I really only recommend this book (and narration) for those that are interested in where the classic Christmas movie originated. This is one of those very rare cases in which I can say, the movie is better than the book.


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A Christmas Story The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film Jean Shepherd 9780767916226 Books Reviews

I was feeling embarrassed that I truly do not love the movie A Christmas Story. You say that out loud you can start a fight. I mean yea the tongue thing is funny I guess the Santa part and the ending at the Chinese restaurant. Other then that seemed depressing and not funny. So I figured its my fault I will read the book and see the true vision. The book pretty much is the movie without the editing. I found it to be a hard read most of the time thinking the author wrote with a thesaurus by his side with such big words and unused unspoken english language and all though they can be true the names of the characters were too confusing. I do give it three stars the stories were good stories just hard to read and if you saw the movie don't read the book the movie is a better pace and the book really has one story set at Christmas and that's the BB gun story. the rest are Easter and other times of the year. for the cover price the books not worth it for the low price has it for I say give it a read.
Jean Shepherd tells about life in the city during the Great Depression. This story is told from a child's point of view. The narrator is an adult relating the story from childhood memories. The exaggerations of time (waiting 200 years for his decoder pin) or number (4000+ hounds) are exactly what a child would do. Everything is bigger, longer, or more to a child.
What fun to read and laugh out loud at the adventures of a normal family in the Midwest during the Depression.
It's essentially a hodgepodge of essays from Jean Shepherd's books that got turned into the movie A Christmas Story. While some lines from the movie came verbatim from the original stories, there's enough differences that if you've not read his other works this is a good introduction. My favorite story, which was only lightly touched on in the movie, was about the Bumpuses which having grown up in a working class neighborhood in Southern Indiana I could understand all too well.
Like everyone I know, I really don't need an excuse to watch A Christmas Story as often as possible. I have been a big fan of the movie for as long as I can remember, but for some reason I never picked up the book. Every year it appears on a shelf in front of me as I do my Christmas shopping, every year I dismiss it and move on. This year I found it on as a deal and decided to purchase it. The stories that the author tells are a little different from the movie, but they are brought to life as you read by the visual effect of having seen the film, in fact there were times when I was reading that I could imagine Shepherd narrating the stories as I was reading them. This is a great read on its own, but it is enhanced by the many times that I have seen the movie.
Note this is NOT an effort to write up the movie screenplay into book form...which means that the title of the book is a bit misleading (ie there was no book to inspire the film).

Most people know that the movie "A Christmas Story" is based on the writings of Jean Shepherd. What people may not know is that Shepherd didn't write a book called "A Christmas Story." The movie is based on selected stories from Shepherd's works over the years, with one story here and another there borrowed and adjusted to fit into the narrative of the screenplay as a single entity.

This neat little book gathers together those original stories from Shepherd's various works under a single cover that saves one the effort of searching them all out throughout his works. The stories are presented here as they are in their original form...which is to say that all of the incidents culled for inclusion in the movie were not necessarily Xmas-oriented in their original guise.

Worth having if you love this movie...and the price is certainly right.
For many people, Christmas isn't Christmas unless you sit down to watch the "A Christmas Story" on TBS on Christmas Eve. We all know the classic lines "You'll shoot your eye out, kid." "Oh, fuuuddgge!" "He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny!" "I triple-DOG dare ya!" You might be surprised that only one of these phrases actually came from this book.

The book, like the movie, is the quintessential look at life in Depression-era Upper Midwest America. Back before the internet invaded our lives, back before satellite/cable TV, heck, even before black-and-white-rabbit-ears TV, the primary means of entertainment was radio, which people listened to every evening Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, and Red Ryder. I don't have to explain the overwhelming desire that Ralphy has for the Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle, all because of this radio show.

It might surprise many that the book has little in common with the Christmas movie. The book moves through five interrelated stories, starting with the BB gun story, and progressing through the months after Christmas, ending with the Bumpus Hounds stealing the EASTER ham and the family going to the "Chop Suey place" for their Easter dinner. Kind of a letdown. Shepherd wrote the screenplay to the movie, and he incorporated the stories of the secret decoder ring, the leg lamp, the bully, the Bumpus hounds, and of course, the Red Ryder BB gun, into a coherent and sensible script. I'm glad he wrote it this way; it makes for a much better Christmas tradition and taste of Americana.

The narration by Dick Cavett was pretty good, but there were instances in which his voice was simply overwhelmed by the sound effects. Yes, sound effects. Christmas carols, jingling bells, hounds baying, the kitchen sink gurgling, all of it got in the way. At first, it was cute, but as the book progressed, the sound effects guy got carried away.

I really only recommend this book (and narration) for those that are interested in where the classic Christmas movie originated. This is one of those very rare cases in which I can say, the movie is better than the book.