Tinsel

A Search for America's Christmas Present

By: Hank Stuever

Narrated by: Ray Porter

When Stuever's narrative begins, he's standing in line with the people waiting to purchase flat-screen TVs at Best Buy on Black Friday, the opening of the Christmas shopping season. From there he follows a number of key residents of Frisco, Texas, as they navigate through the nativity and all its attendant crises: Tammy Parnell, an eternally optimistic suburban mother and proprietor of "Two Elves with a Twist," a company that decorates other people's houses for Christmas; Jeff and Bridgett Trykoski, owners of that one house every town has, the house visible from space with the brightest and most awe-inspiring Christmas decorations; and single mother and Bank of America employee Caroll Cavazos, who hopes that the life-affirming moments of Christmas might overcome the struggles of the rest of the year.

Steuver's portraits are at once humane, heartfelt, revealing - and very, very funny. Tinsel is a compelling tale of our half-trillion-dollar holiday, measuring what we've become against the ancient rituals of what we've always been.

©2009 Hank Stuever (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"With impeccable research and solid reporting, Stuever has written the gift book that keeps on giving - Christmas consumerism wrapped together with traditional family values." (Publishers Weekly)
"Insightful, funny/sad, filled with poetry and despair; who better than Hank Stuever to take on the Christmas Industrial Complex with such ultimate humanity, given that he writes like an angel." (David Rakoff, author of Don't Get Too Comfortable and Fraud)

A Candid Look at Christmas

I really enjoyed this book! Narration was fantastic, it was read with feeling. I liked hearing about the lives of those people living in Frisco, TX. This book gave me an overall general view of what I hope Christmas to be but always falls short of-way short. I understand my desire for a beautiful fire, a table laden with goodies from my childhood and a family that's truly thankful. But the author is right, we can't go back. This book has actually helped me to come to terms with my disappointment every season. Perhaps, perhaps, I won't feel that longing next Christmas. Now that would be absolutely phenomenal!

A Lot of Words - But Doesn't Say Much

The book is interesting enough, but if there are real truths about the holiday season tucked inside I missed them.

Seemed a little judge-y.

All in all a good listen but author was a little snide and his judgment ever sent and harsh.

American Christmas

Thoroughly enjoyed this honest look at many aspects of Christmas in America has become. From blatant consumerism, obsession with “keeping up with the Jones’s, Angel Tree truths,etc. but done with humor. Great narration by Mr Porter, you feel he is the actual author. So many hidden gems in here, would listen again. Everyone should take a listen and a lesson.

A wonderful romp through Christmas!

This is a wry, funny, and touching look at our Christmas pastime. I listen to it every year. The narrator, too, is “absolutely phenomenal !”

Interesting read

"Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present”
This was an interesting book. Stuever travels to one of the most affluent and homogenized cities in Texas (Fresno, just outside of Plano). I believe his intention was to present a view from this bubble community in the Heartland of how commercial and over-the-top Christmas has become. He changed his mind because - as always - when you get to know the people humanity enters into the mix. It’s a good read, maybe not for everyone - but I liked it.

Fa La La La Last Christmas

Highly recommended book that tracks how a few families observe Christmas in their TX community. Observations come from just before, and right after, the economic woes of 2008. The author also includes just enough history and statistics to cover America in general. The whole thing could come off as overly cynical if not for the author's own confessions of a Christmas he seems to long for and can't quite achieve or even fully recall.

A Christmas reality that will curb your Christmas

It's not your average Christmas Story, not a lot to laugh at, but real. It will keep me in perspective with how much money I spend for Christmas. Maybe I should listen to it every year.

Christmas wishes: the elusive mega-moment

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially as it was a refreshing change from the usual current holiday glurge. The author seems to give an honest picture of the families he followed, treating them with respect, affection, and humor. I think he did a pretty good job of capturing, from an outsider's perspective, what we all want Christmas to be, how we try to go about making it happen, and how it can sometimes fall short of that dream. He completely nailed Stonebriar Mall, Frisco, a certain type of affluent North Texas demographic, and Canton. I laughed out loud at his description of Canton, remembering my own WTF-moment when I saw the scooter-people last time I was there. My only criticism is his seemingly hurried treatment of the last two years of the book. He really only covers a single Christmas - 2006 - and just checks in and gives us an update of the 2007 and 2008 Christmases. It's unfortunate, because he was in a unique position to thoroughly document how the changing economy impacted our attitudes between those years. I remember 2008 as the year we could no longer pretend that there wasn't something seriously wrong with the economy, and that Christmas as especially black. But I suppose it wasn't *that* kind of a book.

Ray Porter's reading was excellent. He lent a dry tone of voice to the text that seemed just right, and he gave a pretty good approximation of the Texas drawl. Most audiobook narrators seem to substitute a southern accent for Texans.

Bad Title Great Book

I never would have bought this book except it was an Audible Daily Deal and I listened to the sample. I try to not be that influenced by titles or covers, but it happens. Tinsel is about so much more than decorations, Black Friday or Christmas. Witty author; fantastic narrator. Never heard of the author (how could this be after looking him up!), but will look for his other book, Off-ramp.