The Christmas Letters II: Laughing All the Way

This is not going to be pretty. It’s going to be deep & jolly. It’s going to be poignant. And it’s going to be a “hoot” for sure, just like the first book – The Christmas Letters, A Family. A Decade. A Hoot. But it’s not going to be pretty because the earlier book was about our goofy family in the nineties – a charmed decade – and this one is about the new Millennium, which began with . . . 9/11.

The charmed Nineties led off with the birth of our daughter Lara, the fall of Communism, and a bull market that ran for ten years straight. Without even knowing it, we made enough money for a Volvo and surfing lessons. It ended with a transcendent young girl twirling her way magically into the new Millennium. The letters not only lifted reader spirits, it also taught them how to use the Mayan calendar to outperform the Dow.

The next decade – this one – on the other hand, began with Al Qaeda. And then, another surprise attack,: Lara became a teen. It ended with sub-prime lending, the collapse of the U.S. economy and Bernie Madoff. So, you can imagine.

That is why this book and its magically vacuous content is so important. It continues the work of sharing our crazy family with yours. As you read about our whacky moments you will recall all the whacky moments of your own and it will change the way you feel about things, especially Winter Formals and the U.S. Treasury Department. There are lots of adventures in the book, lots of travel:; Austria, Boston, Naples (Fl), Hawaii, The Eastern Sierra and The People’s Republic of China; and lots of drama and hilarious tales. Through the sheer power of endearing anecdotes about learning how to drive, how to choose a dress for the Winter Formal, the thrill of victory, the agony of the college SAT and a cast of famous people like Bill Murray, Andy Garcia and the irrepressible Sylvester Stallone, you will forget about the decade of sub-prime lending and begin to view your past and present in a wholly different way; or your money back.

Seriously though. Since publishing the first book of Christmas Letters, readers have come to appreciate anew the ancient tradition of the form, which goes back 25,000 years to the cave paintings of Lascaux. Most uninformed people believe those paintings were Christmas Letters. As were the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics -- just more talk about another royal family. And those signals from outer space? Right! Christmas Letters from a place far, far way. The point is, the tradition of telling stories about the family has been going on for Millennium. They contain truths and yes, “secrets” that are universal. And through this book, you will discover them all. Or maybe not.

What you will learn for sure is that no matter the historical circumstance, EVERY decade, every year, every moment is full of wonder. And that’s what the book is all about: Our wonder, reaching out to yours.

“For everything that lives is Holy.”

William Blake