CHRISTMAS UNWRAPPED: Consumerism, Celluloid, Christ, and Culture

The last few years have shown a bumper crop of books about the history of Christmas in America, all chronicling how a holiday the Puritans banned became the consumer fest we know and love/hate today. This anthology adds little to stellar monographs by Karal Ann Marling, Leigh Eric Schmidt and Stephen Nissenbaum, but there are some worthwhile essays: Elizabeth Pleck contextualizes Kwanzaa and offers a useful, if unsurprising, discussion of Jewish responses to Christmas. Kathleen Sands relies too heavily on academic jargon ("hegemonic norms pervade... psychic and cultural space"), but readers who can bear with her will discover an original analysis of homosexuality and Christmas ritual. The rest of the book disappoints. The prose is consistently impenetrable; at least twice, co-editor Tracy calls Nissenbaum's book "germinal." Max Myers's tedious essay makes an obvious point: "Hollywood Helps Construct the American Christmas." Horsley's essays ("The Gospel of the Savior's Birth" and "Messiah, Magi, and Model Imperial King") are not without interest, but the book fails to cohere. Finally, the editors should have sought out a more varied cast of contributors. With so many scholars currently writing about Christmas, it's hard to understand why this book showcases two pieces by Myers and three by Horsley. Although its promising subtitle alludes to Niebuhr's classic ruminations on Christ and culture, this anthology, unfortunately, misses the mark. (July)