Finished 12-24-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 180 pages. pub. 2011

Don’t  you feel it?  Christmas is the force field of heightened possibility.  It’s not about religion, those myths we were brought up with are only tools to direct us toward the mystery of the under self.  It’s about the ecstatic visualization of psychic world is calling us toward balanced consciousness.  Don’t you feel that?  There is a lightness and spontaneity that is struggling to get through all the commercial static and leads us out of our linear consciousness into a global wholeness, don’t you?”

Chapter 17

James Sparrow is a very rich man with a pump handle obsession who hates Christmas.  His wife, Joyce (James & Joyce, cute right?) is a graceful woman who loves all things Christmas and would celebrate all year long if she could.  James is preparing to fly to Hawaii for the holiday when he receives a call from his cousin in North Dakota that his Uncle Earl is dying.  Seeing that Uncle Earl was the only good thing about his childhood, James charters his private jet to Looseleaf for a quick visit before continuing on to the warm beaches of Hawaii.  Only the spiritual powers in North Dakota have conspired to ground this modern day Scrooge until he learns to make peace with Christmas.

Once I looked at this book as a modern take on A Christmas Carol I enjoyed it much more.  At first the talking wolf and dream sequences put me off a bit when I was expecting a nice, sweet holiday read.  I’ve never read Keillor so I didn’t know what to expect and while I enjoyed this holiday story I won’t be rushing out to read more.

Checked this book out of the library.