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 !”