The Life Of Saint Nicholas

The Life of Saint Nicholas relates in enchanting pictures and text how Saint Nicholas came to be a loving symbol of generosity throughout the world. This marvelous tale, told tongue in cheek, begins in Italy, with an ancient manuscript unearthed by a truffle farmer, and travels through time to reveal St. Nicholas' early childhood, adolescence, and coming of age in Rome. 200 + four-color illustrations.

For readers used to seeing Blechman's cartoons in the New Yorker, it's a delight to see him range across an entire book with his distinctive, minimalist, shaky-lined drawings. While his figures are small and simple (dwarfed by a large, troublesome, usually absurd world), Blechman's wit is grand and sophisticated. Here, in this merry romp of puns and mockery, he relates the story of Saint Nicholas, a tale, he informs us, that can only now be told because an Italian farmer discovered an ancient manuscript while (what else?) digging for truffles. In a hilarious schematic, Blechman presents the manuscript's "travels to its final destination" (Akron, Ohio), a journey that involved a tussle between Sotheby's, the Italian government, and R. Jay Gatchall of J-Mart wealth and fame. This piquancy shapes Blechman's entire rendering of the life of good-hearted St. Nick, from days of childhood miracles to his unexpected (and diabolically clever) transformation into the jolly, red-clad being we dutifully worship at department stores each December. A perfect antidote to the commercialization of the season. Donna Seaman