The Man Who Invented Christmas:
How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol
Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
by Les Standiford.Paperback.
Published by Crown.
ISBN 13: 9781524762469
ISBN 10: 1524762466
ASIN: 1524762466
ISBN 10: 1524762466
ASIN: 1524762466
Description:
As uplifting as the tale of Scrooge itself,
this is the story of how Charles Dickens revived the signal holiday of the
Western world.
Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden
and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his
creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little
money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the
end of his career as a novelist.
The book immediately caused a sensation. And
it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined
by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It
was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to
embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.
With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas
cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved
storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented
Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.