The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories

**The ultimate festive anthology of the best Christmas stories of all time, selected from around the worldA Penguin Classics Hardcover/b>This is a collection of the most magical, moving, chilling and surprising Christmas stories from around the world, taking us from frozen Nordic woods to glittering Paris, a New York speakeasy to an English country house, bustling Lagos to midnight mass in Rio, and even outer space.Here are classic tales from writers including Truman Capote, Shirley Jackson, Dylan Thomas, Saki and Chekhov, as well as little-known treasures such as Italo Calvino''s wry sideways look at Christmas consumerism, Wolfdietrich Schnurre''s story of festive ingenuity in Berlin, Selma Lagerlof''s enchanted forest in Sweden, and Irène Nemerovsky''s dark family portrait. Featuring santas, ghosts, trolls, unexpected guests, curmudgeons and miracles, here is Christmas as imagined by some of the greatest short story writers of all time.

“From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter, this greatest hits compilation also happens to be beautifully published. Inside you’ll find ghosts, miracles, grouchy curmudgeons, and plenty of snow.” ―Daily Mail (“Books of the Year”)

“Perfect for any looming Boxing Day boredom.” ―The Herald (Scotland)

Autorentext
Jessica Harrison (editor) is the editorial director of Penguin Classics UK.

Klappentext

The perfect gift this Christmas season: a generous selection of some of the greatest festive stories of all time - now in a beautiful clothbound edition

This is a collection of the most magical, moving, chilling and surprising Christmas stories from around the world, taking us from frozen Nordic woods to glittering Paris, a New York speakeasy to an English country house, bustling Lagos to midnight mass in Rio, and even outer space.

Here are classic tales from writers including Truman Capote, Shirley Jackson, Dylan Thomas, Saki and Chekhov, as well as little-known treasures such as Italo Calvino's wry sideways look at Christmas consumerism, Wolfdietrich Schnurre's story of festive ingenuity in Berlin, Selma Lagerlof's enchanted forest in Sweden, and Irène Nemerovsky's dark family portrait. Featuring santas, ghosts, trolls, unexpected guests, curmudgeons and miracles, here is Christmas as imagined by some of the greatest short story writers of all time.

Leseprobe
Contents

“The Fir Tree” by Hans Christian Andersen
“The Cat on the Dovrefjell” by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe
“A Christmas Party and a Wedding” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“St. Anthony and His Pig” by Paul Arène
“Boys” by Anton Chekhov
“Midnight Mass” by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
“Reginald’s Christmas Revel” by Saki
“The Legend of the Christmas Rose” by Selma Lagerlöf
“A Chaparral Christmas Gift” by O. Henry
“Noël” by Irène Némirovsky
“Dancing Dan’s Christmas” by Damon Runyon
“The Necklace of Pearls” by Dorothy L. Sayers
“One Christmas Eve” by Langston Hughes
“The Christmas Turkey” by Mário de Andrade
“Green Holly” by Elizabeth Bowen
“Christmas Morning” by Frank O’Connor
“A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas
“The Little Restaurant near Place des Ternes” by Georges Simenon
“The Gift” by Ray Bradbury
“A Visit to the Bank” by Shirley Jackson
“The Prisoners” by Bienvenido Santos
“The Leaf-Sweeper” by Muriel Spark
“A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote
“The Loan” by Wolfdietrich Schnurre
“Christmas Eve” by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
“The Loudest Voice” by Grace Paley
“A Cold Christmas Walk in the Country” by Laurie Lee
“Santa’s Children” by Italo Calvino
“Christmas” by Tove Jansson
“Just Because of Xmas” by Cyprian Ekwensi
“Noël. Texas. 1956” by Lucia Berlin
“The Ghost Ships” by Angela Carter