An Off-White Christmas

by Donald G. Evans

An Off-White Christmas features a dozen stories all set on or around Christmas, though with little to no clear religious emphasis. Instead, these stories explore life changes and choices and chaos in times of heightened drama, when family and friends and life partners merge to form cohesive units, happy or otherwise. The stories range from a gambling spree in Las Vegas to a caravan traveling to Baraboo; from a teepee hotel in Kentucky to a retro movie theatre in Arizona; from a jolly Santa lookalike to a frustrated Dickensian actor; from students to retirees. Christmas, in these stories, is a character as much as a setting—it acts upon and with plot to create tension, but each story is unique. It’s hardly all sugar plums and pure white flakes, but always there’s that hope. Just as the notion of a “white Christmas” evokes well worn traditions of the holiday, these dozen “un-white Christmas” stories introduce potential traditions that could expand and augment the Christmas spirit.

190 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2019

About the author

Donald G. Evans is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and editor of Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year; his short stories have been published in a variety of literary journals. He is the Founding Executive Editor of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, has been listed four times in the Newcity Lit 50: Who Really Books in Chicago feature, and received the Chicago Writers Association’s Spirit Award for lifetime achievement. He won a residency at Saltonstall Arts Colony and was an artist-in-residence at Cliff Dwellers Club. He lives just outside Chicago with his wife Margaret and son Dusty. Find more at DonadGEvans.com.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, wise, funny, and heartfelt collection about family connections made and missed. Full review to come!

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

To make my biases known right away, Don Evans is a good friend of mine, and is also the man who very nicely asked me this year to join the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, so there's not really any way to see my write-up of his latest book as somehow an objective and disinterested critical review. I wanted to bring it to your attention anyway, though, because I just finished it myself and really loved it, and wanted to make sure it found more of its natural audience here this holiday season.

A series of stories about families of all types as they each enter the holidays, the tales here range from the sentimental to the bleak, strongly reflecting Evans' natural love for our city's strong history of gritty social realism. My personally favorite story of the collection, for example, "Tiny Flakes of Bone," is an ur-example of this, as two former school chums celebrate Christmas with a sybaritic gambling binge in Las Vegas, their hazy 48 straight hours at the casino slowly revealing the fractures that initially drove the two apart, and how one has been able in middle-age to shed himself of his addictive demons, the other lost in a permanent wallowing in them.

To one degree or another, all the stories in An Off-White Christmas share this intense character-building quality, although certainly many of them have much happier endings; each of them, though, are surprisingly deep dives into the dynamics that make up a family (whether biological or otherwise), Evans cleverly using Christmas as a gimmick off which to hang a whole series of diverse tales with diverse tones. I would've really enjoyed the book whether or not I was already friends with him, and I'd like to strongly encourage you to pick up a copy yourself as soon as you have the chance.

[Sasha Pravdic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t say enough about this book... I LOVED it immensely. These offbeat stories are about the complications and subtleties of relationships, in particular within families, friendships and within ourselves as well. The stories involving families in particular struck a chord with me; no matter how imperfect our relationships are, there is a strong undercurrent of love, loyalty and often simultaneously a slightly wistful kind of sadness. The author captures the struggle between how much we are willing to give and how much we are able to give, not only to others but also to ourselves; often it’s the simplest of gestures that can mean the most. The book is witty, insightful and touching and the stories have wedged themselves in my heart.

[Rita Dragonette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful, optimistic and heart-warming collection of holiday stories that manages to entertain, teach, and fill you with seasonal good will without being either sentimental or religious. There's a touch of nostalgia, even in the contemporary stories, that reminds you of the simpler pleasures and surprises of everyday life. You'll recognize many of the characters--they are in your family, right down the street--chums and neighbors. I defy you not to identify with Dad, relishing the odds while leading a caravan of relative-filled cars through a snowstorm to ensure they, at nearly all costs, make a pre-paid Christmas Eve dinner with Grandma; with the block of strangers who move cars for each other to avoid parking penalties on snow days. You'll agree with the forgiveness for the lonely woman who alienates the affection of a beloved cat, and the pals who make a Las Vegas gambling vacation an experience as poignant as if they'd been surrounded by family around a tree. What makes it all work is the deft writing of Evans. The characters are as real as your family members, drawn sharp and not too sweet. You haven't read any holiday stories like these before--but you'll think you did. They are all that real. This book should be on every gift list for this holiday--every year. You'll laugh knowningly and immediately want to share.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words that dance, and stories that read like Christmas songs*.

More - http://www.changeyourlifethiswill.com...

*Please do excuse the quite on the nose indulgence.

[Lois Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought a beautiful, special hardcover edition of this book. Unfortunately, Goodreads doesn't include that edition.

I loved the 12 vignettes included in the book. Each story had pathos and thought-provoking relationships. Most were both funny and sad. They were all perfect for today's readers and let the readers know that nothing is as it appears and traditions are (mostly) always worth saving.

This is one of those books that will keep you thinking about the stories in it for years to come. Nothing violent or even startling happens, but the stories resonate.