A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories—the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas StoryBefore Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean Shepherd: a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immensely resonant—and utterly hilarious—works of comic art. In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash represents … Others Pay Cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement, a compound of irony, affection, and perfect detail that speaks across generations.
In God We Trust, Shepherd’s wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage “You can never go back.” Bending the ear of Flick, his childhood-buddy-turned-bartender, Shepherd recalls passionately his genuine Red Ryder BB gun, confesses adolescent failure in the arms of Junie Jo Prewitt, and relives a story of man against fish that not even Hemingway could rival. From pop art to the World’s Fair, Shepherd’s subjects speak with a universal irony and are deeply and unabashedly grounded in American Midwestern life, together rendering a wonderfully nostalgic impression of a more innocent era when life was good, fun was clean, and station wagons roamed the earth.
A comic genius who bridged the gap between James Thurber and David Sedaris, Shepherd may have accomplished for Holden, Indiana, what Mark Twain did for Hannibal, Missouri.
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If you love (like I do) A Christmas Story – you’ll love the book the movie was based on. This is a classic I have reread many times!
Herein lies the tale in which the iconic flick, A Christmas Story, is based. Well, it’s based on one of the vignettes that comprise this book of Shepherd’s memories of growing up in small-town Indiana. If you can get through this one without laughing out loud, I will eat my laptop. Highly recommended for cozy reading on a cold winter’s day (or any other time of year!).
In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, Jean Shepherd, 1966
My favorite quote: “Heat, in Indiana, is something else again. It descends like a 300-pound fat lady onto a picnic bench in the middle of July. It can literally be sliced into chunks and stored away in the basement to use in winter; on cold days you just bring it out and turn it on.”
Notable characters: Ralphie Parker, Flick, his friend from childhood;
Most memorable scene: For me, it’s a part about a drunk neighbor who nearly blows up someone’s house on the 4th of July. That part wasn’t in the movie
Greatest strengths: The humor — it’s as good in the book is as it is in the movie
Standout achievements: Since most folks are more familiar with the movie (A Christmas Story, 1983) it seems fair to warn them that there are some significant deviations from the book. For example, the book bears the unfortunate absence of the “triple dog dare” scene. But that doesn’t mean the book isn’t good. In fact, I think its “standout achievement” is that it manages to make a great book AND a great movie (albeit, in slightly different ways)
Fun Facts: This book surprises most folks because it’s actually a short story collection — not all of which are about Ralphie Parker’s childhood
Other media: The 1983 classic, A Christmas Story, starring Peter Billingsley
What it taught me: Like the movie, this book gives the audience a vivid — and very entertaining — glimpse into Depression-era American life
How it inspired me: It made me laugh. A lot. And that’s the greatest inspiration there is
Additional thoughts: I knew this book was a separate entity from the movie and I think that’s part of why I liked it as much as I did. So, if you plan to read this, my advice is to go in knowing that it’s not a mirror image of the movie
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
Jean Shepherd is an original humorist – the Mark Twain of today and tomorrow too. He speaks to us and for all Excelsior fatheads !
Great writing by Jean Shepherd
Very funny and charming
This book always reminds me of my grandfather- the way Jean Shepherd describes things, his turns of phrase- it always put me in mind of how my grandfather tells his stories. Maybe it’s a generational thing. Either way, I finally got around to reading this book after being a fan of A Christmas Story my whole life, and it was basically exactly what I expected. Yes, there was a moment of blatant homophobia and quite a bit of sexism, but then, I kind of expected that due to the time period it is both from and hearkening back to. Getting past those moments, the rest of the book was truly delightful. Jean Shepherd’s wit is humorous and often revealing of a lot of human nature. His description of various characters was such that I recognized them, both in myself and in the people I know. Hohman Indiana might as well been my own hometown and the hometown of my parents. Despite the differing time, place, and attitude towards a lot of life, something in this book was recognizable on a bone-deep level for me.