A collection of seasonal miscellanea from America’s wittiest weekly, Christmas at The New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art from the Editors of The New Yorker is a timeless treasury of literary delights. This jolly volume is the latest entry in a best-selling series of anthologies from the magazine. Offering antics aplenty, both visual and verbal, it spans 75 years and features classic, holiday-themed selections cartoons and covers, prose and verse drawn from the publication’s extensive archives.
Contributors to this twinkling collection include William Steig, James Thurber, John Updike, Ann Beattie and Alice Munro, all sharing their singular visions of Christmas. Stand-out offerings from Roger Angell, whose poem “Greetings Friends” is an extended exercise in holiday hilarity, and John Cheever, whose story “Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor” will awaken the spirit of giving in readers, are among the many funny and poignant pieces capturing the essence of the season. Choice extracts from the magazine’s “Talk of the Town” feature are sprinkled throughout the volume. There are newer offerings from the likes of Ken Kesey and Richard Ford, as well as gems from E.B. White and H.L. Mencken. There’s nothing humbug about it: when it comes to spreading Christmas cheer, The New Yorker has the best in holiday humor.
