• A Christmas Story

  • The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film
  • By: Jean Shepherd
  • Narrated by: Dick Cavett
  • Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,113 ratings)

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A Christmas Story  By  cover art

A Christmas Story

By: Jean Shepherd
Narrated by: Dick Cavett
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Publisher's summary

The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family's typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

This audio production of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker's shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father's pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie's duel in the snow with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie's unstoppable campaign to get Santa, or anyone else, to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid"?

The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.

©2003 The Estate of Jean Shepherd (P)2004 Random House Inc. Random House Audio, a divison of Random House, Inc.

Featured Article: Tune into the Best Christmas Movies Based on Books


What's just as satisfying—or maybe even better—than curling up under a blanket with a big bowl of popcorn and a mug of hot cocoa to watch one of your favorite holiday films? Listening to the audiobook that it's based on! Many of the most iconic movies we watch every year during the holidays were inspired by books, some well-known and some eclipsed by the fame of their adaptations. These listens are worth revisiting time and time again.

What listeners say about A Christmas Story

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Much more to it than the film ever showed

I didn't like the film, and was surprised that the book had a lot more in it than what was in the movie. An interesting listen for any time of year.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect reading

Dick Cavett is PERFECT for this. Wonderful reading and laugh-out-loud funny. Definitely going to enjoy watching the movie even more now that I’ve heard how it all began.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the Genesis of a Christmas story

This nice small collection of stories make up the Genesis of the classic film at Christmas story. This collection expands upon plot points and scenarios of the classic film in great detail and is very funny. I ended up creating the tradition where I listened to this every holiday season and it will become your tradition also

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A holiday classic!

Just perfect. Almost as good as watching the movie, and normally I don’t prefer movies over books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Almost As Funny As The Movie

A Christmas Story is a Christmas Classic so when I found the book, I had to listen to it. Dick Cavett isn't as good as Jean was at narrating the movie but still did a wonderful job. This book is full of laughs and is a great addition to your Christmas traditions.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A christmas story

It was so good and I love low the dogs got his mad and now want them to move back in and I love the move and book it is like the same!!!😁😁😁

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Christmas Story

Fantastic performance by Dick Cavett. Nice sound effects--not too loud or overpowering. The story isn't entirely about Christmas--more like a review of quirky family moments, and it's not exactly like the movie but very enjoyable nonetheless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed the Audiobook, but prefer the film

If you could sum up A Christmas Story in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Familiar and Enjoyable

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Christmas Story?

The pack of dogs taking the ham right off the table, especially after the description of the long process to prepare.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I was happy to find many aspects of the film were accurate in the book version, though not in exact sequence. Dick Cavett , as great as his voice is, may not have been the top choice for the narration.

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

Sure, it was not that long and I did enjoy it.

Any additional comments?

As other reviews and also touched upon in this one, if you are looking for the exact version you see in the film, you wont find it here but you will find enough that you can picture the same kids, adults, and many other scenes that will be easily identified. Read this with that in mind and it is still a fun story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a Christmas favorite

I am adding this to my annual Christmas listening list period I plan to give copies of this book as Christmas presents to all of my siblings friends period too much cursing for me but you'll laugh anyway

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Christmas Story

I enjoyed listening to this!A very good book filled with stories from other holidays,not just Christmas.Worth the read.

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