A masterful account of Christmas's transformation from a rowdy bacchanalian revel to a child-centered, domestic celebration, with all its attendant commercial glitter. It's unusual that a work of history manages to be both entertaining and intelligent, yet this is precisely the appeal of this excellent book. Nissenbaum (History/Univ. of Massachusetts) has combined considerable research with skillful analysis. He doesn't simply tell us that Santa Claus was a 19th-century American invention; he weaves a narrative that explains why a group of prominent New Yorkers created St. Nick to consciously transform the holiday. Christmas had been, even into the Jacksonian era, a season for excessive public drinking, the looting of wealthy homes, and loud street singing of bawdy holiday tunes. Nissenbaum shows how New York's elite seized the holiday and invented traditions, such as the Christmas tree, to keep raucous youth at home under their parents' watchful eyes. Meanwhile, the growth of Christmas was spurred economically by the nation's rising middle class. Presents were marketed and mass-produced after the 1820s—but Nissenbaum observes that the invented Santa figure countered this development by serving as an ``anti-commercial icon''; to a new bourgeoisie uncomfortable with purchased luxury, Santa offered a reassuring throwback to a simpler time. Parents could tell their children that their assembly-line dollies and trains had in fact been made (and delivered) by Santa. Art from the period depicts Santa carving each toy with a hand-held chisel, already a nostalgic anachronism in an industrialized age. Impressive art, in fact, is a highlight of the book, especially as Nissenbaum traces the physical changes of old Santa (who first appeared looking fairly plebeian and skinny). One suspects that Nissenbaum, like the proverbial Saint Nick, crafted this book with great care and a twinkle in his eye. It is a gem.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-41223-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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