Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

skipping christmas by john grisham

What occupied you this past Holiday season? I bet a lot of those involved Christmas parties, family gatherings, gift-givings, decorating your Christmas tree, shopping and of course, food. Who could forget about the food? Quezo de Bola, Hamon, fruitcakes, and to the more lucrative, Lechon and Paella. Food has been one of the highlights of my December holidays which I would feature in this blog in time. (If I remember it right, I've been to three or four memorable gatherings this Holiday season with friends). But for now, let me tell you about this wonderful little book that kept me rapt all-throughout the season.

inside the book

John Grisham is well-known for his legal thrillers. Think of The Firm, A Time To Kill, The Client to name a few. I've only read two book titles from his ever growing list before Skipping Christmas (The Testament and The Chambers) and absolutely loved them both. Even though I find his endings a bit slanted and anti-climactic. However, aside from plots that deals with courtroom dramas, he also ventures on stories that doesn't involve courtroom scenes. If my recollection serves me right, it started with his 2001 novel, A Painted House, a novel that deals about life in a cotton farm. This was then followed by Bleachers, Playing For Pizza and Skipping Christmas.

Skipping Christmas revolves around Luther Krank's idea of skipping Christmas altogether when her daughter decided to join a year-long visit to Peru with the Peace Corps. Since their daughter will not be with them on Christmas, he deviced a scheme to drop Christmas  this year , tagging his wife, Nora, to his devious plan to enjoy basking in the sun instead on a Caribbean cruise on Christmas day. And that's when all hell broke loose for the Kranks. The novel has a surprising plot twist towards the end which I find quite nice and endearing. 

I loved the book from start to finish. For me, this book encapsulate the true Christmas spirit of camaraderie and good cheer. It also offers a few funny antics. My favorite of which is the scene towards the end of the novel (I would try not to reveal too much in case you decided to grab a copy of this novel and, also to avoid being accused of divulging a spoiler) when Luther and his wife were arguing on the subject of "Love at first sight" on the heels of their daughter's decision to marry a guy he just met. Luther, totally incredulous, blurted out, "That's impossible!" when the said subject was brought up. In which Nora retorted, "Maybe you're right. It took me three years to see your potential." That line really cracked me up.

chirstmas with the kranks' film poster

No wonder film director Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone) adapted this novel to a screenplay. The movie (retitled Christmas With The Kranks) was filmed by Joe Roth (America's Sweetheart) with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis played the role of Luther and Nora Krank, respectively. It also starred Dan Aykroyd as Vic Frohmeyer who served as the main protagonist in Luther's decision to skip Christmas. 

It was a fun, delightful read. And hey! The Holiday season is not over yet, since us Pinoys observe it till Three Kings. As for me, I'm still deciding whether to pick The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy as my next book (or books) to read or False Memory by Dean Koontz, a popular author whose works I haven't read yet. Will keep you posted once I made up my mind. 'Till then! :)

Author:                                John Grisham

Genre:                                 Comedy Novel

Publisher:                            Doubleday

Media Type:                        Hardcover

Pages:                                177 pages

Flap-Cover Illustrator:          Andrew Davidson

Christmas With The Cranks film trailer: