 Hundred Dollar Holiday : The Case for a Joyful Christmas
by Bill
McKibben
This brief, eloquently presented book offers a
simple and inviting strategy for handling the most complicated holiday of our
times--Christmas. Reacting to the commercialization and overspending that has come to
define it, author Bill McKibben (The End of
Nature) argues in favor of only spending a hundred dollars at Christmas. Rather
than grousing about the deterioration of Christmas, McKibben matter-of-factly explains
that there was a time that giving extravagant presents may have been a satisfying and
meaningful ritual. "The Christmas we now celebrate grew up at a time when Americans
were mostly poor ... mostly working with their hands and backs," he writes. If we now
feel burdened and unsatisfied by the piles of gifts and overconsuming, it is not because
Christmas has changed all that much, he adds, "It's because we have."
What we need and long for now are the gifts of time,
meaningful family connections, periods of silence, a relationship with the divine,
McKibben writes. How to give and receive the Christmas gifts that matters? Make homemade
presents (he even offers a chapter's worth of great ideas). Give children coupons for zoo
visits or an evening devoted to playing board games. It's likely that McKibben, a former
staff writer for The New Yorker, could launch a national movement with this
inviting and sensible concept. But no matter how many dollars you spend, factor the cost
of this book into your Christmas budget! --Gail Hudson
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