An American Christmas...

Where does Tinsel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I really enjoyed it. I wanted something to listen to that was about Christmas and took the plunge. It was definitely up there with the greats. Its a slice of an American Christmas, following a few characters across three years. Luckily for the author the first year of his project was 2006 when everyone thought the good times were here to stay. The following years briefly catch up on the residents of Frisco as the effects of the Credit Crunch are beginning to tell.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jeff Trykowski the Christmas light's wizard. Because this is an audiobook there are obviously no photographs so I entered Jeff's name in Youtube and...wow! They are stunning!

Have you listened to any of Ray Porter’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Ray Porter is fast becoming my favourite narrator. I've just finished listening to his reading of They Thirst. This is a factual book but he still imbues the participants with a great selection of easily recognisable voices. I'm going to start looking at his back catalogue.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I love Christmas, as most of the people in this book do, so it definitely gave me a glow. There are sad bits and funny bits.

Any additional comments?

A prescient look at how Christmas is celebrated in a boom town in Texas. It touches on the history of Christmas in America, the economics of the festive period and the religious side too, through a cast of mainly sympathetic characters. It exposes the commercial side of the festive season mercilessly, but boils everything down to the important things. A nice easy listen. I'd really recommend it for your December credit.

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