The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories: Great for Holiday and Christmas Reading or Gifting

by Alberto Manguel (Editor)

Christmas is the storytelling time, the beginning of things expected but not yet seen, of tales suspenseful and mysterious, and full of a comfort of sorts. Internationally acclaimed anthologist Alberto Manguel offers an immensely enjoyable collection of twenty-three brilliant stories from across the globe, written under the merry canopy of Christmas.

The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories includes tales by the best master storytellers, such as "The Turkey Season" by Alice Munro; "Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor" by John Cheever; "Cr#232;che" by Richard Ford; "Horatio's Trick" by Ann Beattie; "Another Christmas" by William Trevor; and "The Leaf-Sweeper" by Muriel Spark.

The collection also features voices of writers whose work has seldom or never been translated into English, such as "A Risk for Father Christmas" by Siegfried Lenz and "The Night Before Christmas" by Theodore Odrach. Eminently readable, The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories is a celebration of the most magical of seasons.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Christmas, Holiday, Anthologies

335 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Alberto Manguel (born 1948 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born writer, translator, and editor. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books such as The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (co-written with Gianni Guadalupi in 1980) and A History of Reading (1996) The Library at Night (2007) and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: A Biography (2008), and novels such as News From a Foreign Country Came (1991).

Manguel believes in the central importance of the book in societies of the written word where, in recent times, the intellectual act has lost most of its prestige. Libraries (the reservoirs of collective memory) should be our essential symbol, not banks. Humans can be defined as reading animals, come into the world to decipher it and themselves.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manguel is a well known anthologist. For this volume, he has selected writers from around the world. Many are very well known including: Truman Capote, Graham Greene, Vladamir Nabokov, and William Trevor. Contemporary writers include Paul Auster, Ann Beattie, Richard Ford and Jeannette Winterson. My favorite stories were Trevor's "Another Christmas", Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice" and Jeannette Winterson's "O'Brien's First Christmas". Trevor's story of an Irish couple who move from Waterford to London tells of a rift that occurs with their landlord, Mr. Joyce, an English man (possibly of Irish descent). They had weekly shared tea on Friday nights and discussed the news - it was 1978, the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. They all condemn the bombings. Then one day, Dermot, the husband, and deeply religious and devout Catholic, added to their discussion of the latest bombing, you shouldn't forget what the Catholics of the North had suffered and that the crimes of the bombings wouldn't have happened if generations of them hadn't been treated like animals. Paley's story is about a young Jewish girl from an immigrant family in New York selected to act in the Christmas story pageant because she has the loudest voice. The hilarity of the story is although her mother is appalled, her father sees it as a way into understanding the beliefs of a different culture. Winterson's story is pure whimsy and tells the story of a lonely woman who is a store clerk and how her life magically changes - just wonderful.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this over the course of several years, a handful of stories each holiday season. There are some very unusual choices, including some that really have hardly anything to do with Christmas (e.g. the one by Bessie Head). Still, it’s a nice book to have to hand, even if just to skip through. Manguel strikes a good balance between well-known short story writers (Mavis Gallant, William Trevor and Alice Munro), authors you might never think to associate with Christmas (Paul Auster, Richard Ford and Vladimir Nabokov), and fairly obscure works in translation (Theodore Odrach, Sergio Ramírez and Itoh Seikoh).

Four favorites:
“A Christmas Memory,” Truman Capote (overall favorite)
“Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor,” John Cheever
“The Zoo at Christmas,” Jane Gardam
“O’Brien’s First Christmas,” Jeanette Winterson

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auggie Wren's Christmas story / Paul Auster - good
Horatio's trick / Ann Beattie - good
A Christmas memory / Truman Capote - good
Christmas is a sad season for the poor / John Cheever - good
Creche / Richard Ford - scattered and kind of boring
The Sunday after Christmas / Mavis Gallant - Huh?
The zoo at Christmas / Jane Gardam - strange
Run silent, run deep / Peter Goldsworthy - ok
A visit to Morin / Graham Greene - zzzz
The coming of the Christ-child / Bessie Head - zzzz
For Christmas / Juan Jose Hernandez - good
A risk for Father Christmas / Siegfried Lenz - strange
Winter dog / Alistair MacLeod - good
The turkey season / Alice Munro - good
Christmas / Vladimir Nabokov - good enough story but I don't like how he writes
The night before Christmas / Theodore Odrach - good
The loudest voice / Grace Paley - good
Saint Nikolaus / Sergio Ramirez - good
God is nowhere, God is now here / Itoh Seikoh - I don't get this one
The leaf-sweeper / Muriel Spark - good
Mother Christmas / Michel Tournier - haha, that was weird.
Another Christmas / William Trevor - good
O'Brien's first Christmas / Jeanette Winterson - ok

[melmarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are some of my favourites from the 23 short stories in the anthology:

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster -- two strangers: a young man and a blind old lady spent Christmas together by chance, which turned to be her last Christmas.
"As long as there's a person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true."

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote -- a bittersweet story of two unlikely friends and a dog.

Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor by John Cheever -- this one is pretty self explanatory, and quite heartwarming too!

The Coming of the Christ-Child by Bessie Head -- deals with the other side of the (white) mission to spread Christianity in South Africa.
"Answer this question, Father. How is it that when the white man came here, he had only the Bible and we the land. Today, he has the land and we the Bible,"

For Christmas by Juan José Hernandez -- addresses the inequality in the relationship of a married couple.

Christmas by Vladimir Nabokov -- a heartbreaking story about a father grieving for his son during Christmastime.

The Loudest Voice by Grace Palley -- a Jewish girl with a particularly loud voice is excited about being in a Christmas play--her father sees no harm in it.

The Leaf-Sweeper by Muriel Spark -- in which a man founded the Society for the Abolition of Christmas, and then taken up for his activism and sent to the asylum. Quite a witty story with a touch of magical realism.

Mother Christmas by Michel Tournier -- a very short story--only 3 pages--which is quite self explanatory as well. The thing is, I didn't read the title first so when I got to the ending I was pleasantly surprised.

[Pippa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average story rating: 2.9/5

Even at their best, Christmas stories were no more than wish-fulfillment dreams, fairy tales for adults, and I’d be damned if I’d ever allowed myself to write something like that. - Paul Auster

Oof. This one was pretty disappointing. I'm reasonably sure that Alberto Manguel had access to some sort of short story database, searched the keyword "Christmas," and selected the first 23 authors he recognized as having good work and good reputations. They're not even edited into a cohesive order. They're alphabetized.

I also learned through this collection that I am a pretty tough customer when it comes to short stories. There's a point in my notes where I just say: "I really don’t like short stories. If they can’t tell an interesting evocative story reaching its full potential, what’s the point?" So there's that.

Okay. Let's talk positives. I'm really glad that there is varied collection of short Christmas stories that puts a spotlight on a variety of authors of different genders, sexual orientations, and nationalities, and I'm glad that it puts beloved Canadian writers at the forefront. That's really cool. I wish it had been a bit more positive, but I did my research so I knew not to walk into this expecting 23 heartwarming stories all about Christmas.

Eggbeaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting, nose-tingling odours saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke. - Truman Capote

There are a couple of bittersweet gems from Truman Capote and Alistair MacLeod, and some good ones from Ann Beattie, Vladimir Nabokov, Sergio Ramírez, Muriel Spark, and William Trevor. The Alice Munro story is probably enjoyable if you're not a vegetarian. Manguel also wrote a great historical introduction to set the scene.

The rest of the collection is unfortunately not really worth your time, and the seven that are don't make the entire collection worth it. I read this one for something seasonal to carry my evenings through the Christmas seasons. It largely let me down.

What are you doing?’ I call, although it is obvious.
‘Singing Christmas songs, because it snowed.’ - Alistair MacLeod

[Genna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/3.5 stars

There were some short stories that were good and kept my attention. Some had me in tears and crying. Some I could not recall right after reading them but that was only a few stories. Overall I enjoyed it. I wanted to read this during the month of December and finish it by Christmas time but I'm glad I finished it before Jan 6th. The true date we finish celebrating the days of Christmas time. I tried reading it last year but got busy and put it aside. Picked it back up this year and barely remembered the stories I had started last year but glad I finally got around to finishing this one. It had been on my shelves for some time.

16 out of the 23 short stories was how many I enjoyed the most, kept my attention, or sparked some kind of emotion out of me.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three essentials, not just for Christmas, but for always: Vladimir Nabokov's perfect story of a man grieving his son's death, Grace Paley's hilarious Jewish immigrant kids performing a Christmas pageant, Alice Munro's piercing story of work at a turkey processing barn.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ended up liking or being intrigued by only 3 or 4 of the short stories. The others were dark, seem unfinished or obtuse.

[Ginna]

This was not only the worst collection of Christmas stories I've ever read, it was the worst collection of short stories I've ever read. (With the sole exception of A Christmas Memory.)

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed many of the stories but others didn’t feel like they belonged. If you’re looking for something wholesome this is not the collection for you.

[Em Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is so hard to rate. The stories themselves are mostly well-written but if you're looking for heart-warming and uplifting, look elsewhere. The stories generally take place around Christmas but they're not festive and are depressing as hell.

In these short stories, we have sexual assault, rehab, grieving parents, attempted murder, apartheid, dogs being shot, turkeys being slaughtered, kids bullying and threatening to kill other kids, and so much more that I'm forgetting about. I think my favorite was Capote's - it captured the spirit of Christmas with a touching, bittersweet ending. Still sad but at least Christmassy.

I also enjoyed The Night Before Christmas (Theodore Odrach). A sobering reminder of Christmas during war time.

The stories themselves weren't bad, and there was an obvious theme throughout. I imagine the editor chose these kinds of stories on purpose, but damn, what a let down. I chose this expecting to feel festive and instead was just depressed.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t very good. A lot of the stories don’t seem to have anything to do with Christmas and the ones that did were kind of weird.

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourites:
Winter Dog by Alistair MacLeod,
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote,
Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor by John Cheever,
Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story by Paul Auster

[Aras · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd rate this two stars, but I deducted an extra star for the misleading title and theme. Really, half of these stories only mention Christmas in passing, and most of them are of the depressing and pointless modern style in which 'nothing happens'. One or two of them are hardly even stories (stating your opinion about things or people, even fictional, doesn't make for a story). I'm thinking the editor must really hate Christmas to subject the reader to most of this material.

The bright spots among the lumps of coal are "Augie Wren's Christmas Story" by Paul Auster (which was made into the last vignette in the movie Smoke), "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote, "Winter Dog" by Alistair MacLeod, and "Christmas" by Vladimir Nabokov.

[Brett]

Overall a good collection of Christmas stories. There are some repeats from the Everyman's Library Book of Christmas Stories, and on the whole I found the Everyman collection more enjoyable. However, there are some gems in this collection that make it worth the read: most notably, the selections by Muriel Spark, Alistair MacLeod and William Trevor. Recommended.

[Celtria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a broad mix of stories by an international group of writers, as would be expected from an anthology edited by Alberto Manguel.
It's a good read offering a varied perspective on the festive season, but not for anyone expecting tinsel and Bing Crosby! Although a Christmas Fairy does pop up in one of the stories.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Some stories I liked (in particular, Jeanette Winterson's, which, as luck would have it, came right at the end of the book); others, not so much. I would've given it 2.5 stars, but since I couldn't, I rounded up.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. It was a collection of short stories. There was a darling story written by Truman Capote about fruit cake, but otherwise many of the stories seemed mean spirited and depressing considering it's a Christmas book.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories old and new that address the wonder of this holiday along with the pain and confusion it brings about for many. Favorites in this collection include, Paul Auster's Auggie Wren's Christmas Story, Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory, and Jeanette Winterson's O'Brien's First Christmas.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories are great, some not so. Overall, an excellent collection of holiday tales.

[Cait]

I only got a few stories in before the holidays were over, so I'm saving the rest for next year. I enjoyed Paul Auster's "Augie Wren's Christmas Story" and Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory".

[Beverly Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and worth reading. Some are puzzlers but I accepted that. "Christmas" by Vladimir Nabokov is sad, beautiful, mystical/spiritual.

[Caitlin]

The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories by Alberto Manguel (2006)

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not in the mood for this right now.

[Rosemarie]

Gifted by Mary Ann Christmas 2017. Some interesting stories. I read about 4 of them