About this title: A CHRISTMAS MEMORY is a fictional/autobiographical recollection of the author's boyhood in rural Alabama. Buddy, a seven-year-old orphan, happily prepares for the Christmas season by making fruitcakes with his eccentric cousin, Miss Sook.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: None Stated
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 1956
Description: No Illustrations. Very Good. No Jacket. EX-LIBRARY. EXPECTED MARKINGS AND ATTACHMENTS. TAN HARD COVER COVER WITH LIGHT SOILING, CORNERS LIGHTLY BUMPED. INTERIOR PAGES CLEAN, BRIGHT AND TIGHT WITH LIBRARY STAMPS MARKED OUT. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679800408ISBN:0679800409
Description: Good. Ex-library with usual stamps and labels, otherwise a good copy with light wear. Library binding with no dust jacket. For quick delivery, please consider Expedited shipping-standard delivery ranges from 4-19 business days. Thank you! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date Published: 2006-10-10
ISBN-13:9780375837890ISBN:0375837892
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Modern Library, New York
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780679602378ISBN:0679602372
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Available in a single volume are three holiday stories that Truman Capote regarded as among his greatest works of short fiction. Gray cloth with gold-color lettering on spine, decorated endpapers, vii, 107 pp., includes author's biography, unclipped illustrated jacket. Excellent condition. read more
Binding: Library Binding
Publisher: Creative Education
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780871919564ISBN:0871919567
Description: Acceptable in Acceptable jacket. Good ex-library copy with acceptable jacket. Library label has been cut from back cover of jacket. Otherwise a good copy with light wear. For quick delivery, please consider Expedited shipping-standard delivery ranges from 4-19 business days. Thank you! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Modern Library, New York
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780679602378ISBN:0679602372
Description: Fine in Very Good jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Combines the author's three holiday classics under one cover; later printing. Gray cloth with torchbearer logo blind stamped on front board; gold lettering on spine only. No markings inside or out. Unclipped dj has no bumps or tears but appears to have been stored too close to others on the shelf; some of the shine has worn off the jacket. Doesn't appear to have been read. 107 pages. read more
Description: Fine. 0394419316 This is a beautiful, like-new hardback book! FIRST EDITION! ! ! Crisp, clean pages and a super tight spine! ! The dust jacket is in excellent condition, too! No writing, highlighting, nothing! ! ! Close to looking like it could be on the shelf of a new bookstore! SMOKE FREE HOME! Do not settle for worn, torn, throwaways. Pay a few pennies more for a beautiful near new copy! ! ! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Modern Library
Date Published: 1996-11-01
ISBN-13:9780679602378ISBN:0679602372
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780679602378. read more
Description: Illustrated. Very Good. No Jacket. EX-LIBRARY. EXPECTED MARKINGS AND ATTACHMENTS. PICTORIAL CLOTH COVER WITH LIGHT SOILING, CORNERS LIGHTLY BUMPED. INTERIOR PAGES CLEAN, BRIGHT AND TIGHT. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date Published: 1989-09-27
ISBN-13:9780679800408ISBN:0679800409
Description: Like New. Nice hardcover with copy with just a hint of shelf wear to book and jacket! Clean, tight, crisp and shiny! We ship quickly 6 days a week. Email sent with USPS confirmmation/tracking when shipped. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Modern Library
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780679602378ISBN:0679602372
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Perfection Learning
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780895986634ISBN:0895986639
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 7.3 by 5 inches. [allow 1-2 weeks transit to europe]. (00036 pages) lang=english accessory: no accessory (Paperback ) read more
"I am always looking for books to read in the upcoming Christmas season. I saw this book in a catalog, and thought I would read it first from the library. I'm glad I saved my money and did not buy it.
While beautifully written it is a terribly sad and tragic book, not one that I would want to bring out from year to year and read over again. Perhaps a better title would have been "A Christmas memory -- some sweet but alot bitter and unhappy". It is largely autobiographical, which explains much as Truman Capote had a wretched childhood. The book relates the story of a little 7 year old boy and his elderly woman cousin whom he calls "my friend". Both of them are unloved and unwanted. The other relatives in the house are portrayed only through anger and shrillness. Buddy, as the boy is called, and his friend escape the unhappiness of the house by withdrawing to themselves.
The sweet memories include making fruitcakes to send to strangers who have entered their lives, searching for the perfect Christmas tree, and enjoying belonging to each other and loving each other. However, the book ends when Buddy is sent away to school and his cousin eventually dies. After this Christmas memory, he never sees her again.
There is no real understanding of Christmas, and no hope... only the numbing sorrow of a child who found someone to love him and someone he could love, and in the end is separated from that person forever."
"I suppose Christmas in Alabama in 1966 would be special to anyone not celebrating Christmas in Alabama in 1966, as I was. A touching book, but not staggering. It was nice to see Capote's human side for once. Reading this in April instead of at Christmas may also have something to do with my lack of enthusiasm..."
"A wonderful Christmas book written as only Truman Capote could. I am so happy that he chose to share this particular memory with the world. It's a memory worth re-visiting each year. I usually hate fruit cake. But if I could have one made by Capote's sweet aunt, I think I might actually like it."
"This short three-story collection was a surprise -- in a good way. I was expecting that it would be somewhat sentimental (and I usually view that kind of designation pejoratively as I'm not necessarily a huge fan of what I categorize as "domestic" fiction), but I was surprised at how warm, charming, and subtly captivating it was. Capote writes, in these stories, in a way that kind of snuck up on me, and before I knew it, I was engrossed and engaged and even feeling nostalgia for a time and place that I have never personally known. The imagery has really stuck with me, despite the fact that Capote's simple phrasing and short sentences didn't seem like they would warrant such vivid searing into the imagination at the time that I was reading them. I am really impressed. This is some good, affecting, pull-the-wool-over-your-eyes writing disguised in simple prose.
Fans only of sharp turns, Calvino-esque labyrinthine intricacies, layers of subtext and metaphor, and the kind of startling turns of phrase found within Nabakovian writing -- oh and fans of Milton-like purple prose -- may not enjoy this Capote collection so much. But then again, I would put myself in the group of readers who lean toward the aforementioned predilections (minus the Milton), and I found myself pleasantly surprised, so I would definitely recommend you give it a shot, whether you're ever so vaguely cynical like me or not. In any case, the collection is very short, so it's a quick, pleasant read and you won't have wasted much of your time if you don't like it, and you will have found something that you will probably want to read again if you do.
Oh, plus, fans of A Christmas Story may find that the title character in the last story in Capote's collection ("A Thanksgiving Visitor") bears an uncanny resemblance to Scut Farkus, the red-haired, wiry, bully-tormentor of Ralphie and Randy in A Christmas Story! This made the story seem even more familiar to me and imbued it with a sense of humor (even though the story itself isn't exactly funny, though it does have humorous moments).
Anyway, I really liked it, and if this isn't your usual cup of tea, give it a try anyway when the time seems right, and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised and even, dare I say, moved."
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