Skipping Christmas

A Novel

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting the annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences - and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined.

A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the charm and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

©2001 Belfry Holdings, Inc (P)2001 Random House, Inc.; Random House Audio, a Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Clever...fun to read." (Publishers Weekly)

Also a movie.

Anyone ever seen Christmas with the Kranks (Tim Allen & Jaime Lee Curtis)? Verbatim.

If you have not seen the movie, then I would recommend this short read. The narrator is perfect for Mr Krank. The author did a fantastic job expressing the tribulations and joys and expectations surrounding the holidays. Very funny, but has a point to make. Better comedy than "Home Alone", but less meaning than "It's a Wonderful Life".

Update on The Grinch

If the Grinch lived in 80/90s US Suburbia, he’d be Luther Krank. It’s a good parody of both those who go waaay overboard in celebrating the festivities of the season over the spirit of the season, and those who completely forget that there is a Spirit of Christmas. The movie was awful, I thought, but the ex thought it was pretty good. But the book, of course, is better. Merry Christmas!🎄

Can't help but read this every year

While the movie of this book is absolutely a treasure, there is always a bit more to be discovered in a book. Especially when the author is Grisham! There's a bit more mystery to it -who is that man who seems to know them all????

Perfect for us borderline grinch-folk that secretly want to enjoy Christmas again.

I told my book club group that I’ve been a little grinchy the last several years and wanted to up my Christmas spirit. I asked for recommendations and they did not disappoint. This was the perfect book for me to dive into the holidays with. Comical, kinda grinchy, and has a good ending. I didn’t realize there’s a movie out- Christmas with the Kranks. I’ll have to look that one up.

No magic or character growth

Quick disclosure if you were hoping this review would not contain comparisons from the movie Christmas with the Kanks then you might as well move on. Because for me the Christmas magic was missing from this book. Not often is the movie better but c'est la vie.

The set up was good for December 2020. After all that has happened I was not in the mood for the holidays. Skipping sounded like a stress free paradise. Unfortunately Skipping Christmas seemed as if it was an outline to a magical story that would have to be reread every December. But it was just an outline it was still missing important essentials. Magic, love, character growth, and details.

Luther was not the likeable Tim Allen from the movie. He was pretty much a horndog for all women other than his wife. The Kranks in general had no redeemable qualities at all. Even Frohmeyer "The unelected war boss of the street" according to the the movie just bullied the neighborhood. In the book we are told a Pakistani couple lived down the street and moved out just as quickly. So the community felt a little like white washed Christmas Nazis when it came down too it.

I was just disappointed. It is apparently very hard to find a Christmas story that warms the heart as much as holiday movies have done for me. So please if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them in the comments.

As entertaining as when I read it years ago

Loved the Audible version as much as when I read the book. Made me laugh out loud as I was listening!

Fun Christmas Story

Great Christmas Story! Fun and Fast moving. I recommend! Shorter than the movie. John Grisham never lets me down.

Nice Christmas story

Quick listen, nice story, funny.
It made a cute movie as well .
I recommend both

Great Christmas book

I listen to this book every year for Christmas. I like the book much better than the movie. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Cute

Would you consider the audio edition of Skipping Christmas to be better than the print version?

I didn't read but realized I had seen the movie...Christmas with the Kranks

What did you like best about this story?

Nothing stands out

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed all of it

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was short so fairly easy to do that.