KDL Recommends

Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present

ISBN: 9780547134659

Title: Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present

Author: Hank Stuever

KDL Description:

Hank Stuever turns his unerring eye for the idiosyncrasies of modern life to Frisco, Texas, a suburb at once all-American and completely itself, to tell the story of the nation’s most over-the-top celebration: Christmas.

Amazon Description:

In Tinsel, Hank Stuever searches out the most outlandish cultural excesses as well as the secret beauties of modern America s half-trillion-dollar Christmas holiday. When Stuever s narrative begins, he s standing in line with the people waiting to purchase flat-screen TVs at Best Buy on Black Friday. From there he follows Tammy Parnell, the proprietor of ‘Two Elves with a Twist,’ a company that decorates other people s houses for Christmas; Jeff and Bridgett Trykoski, owners of that one house every town has with Christmas decorations visible from space; and single mother Caroll Cavazos, who hopes that the life-affirming moments of Christmas might overcome the struggles of the rest of the year. Steuver s portraits are at once humane, heartfelt, revealing and very, very funny.