Christmas on the Screen

Christmas movies are revealing windows into religion, consumerism,family, and American pop culture, and Zukowski offers a compelling,highly readable guide to this long-flourishing genre. Exploring classicsas well as flops, he illuminates both the resilience and the limitationsof the holidays celebration on screen.Leigh E. Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis, author ofConsumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American HolidaysHow the Grinch Stole Christmas weighs materialism against community. The Polar Express tests the wonder of miracles in an age of cynicism. And Die Hard (yes, Die Hard) wrestles with the impact of broken relationships on holiday joy. With Christmas on the Screen, journalist John A. Zukowski takes readers on an historic tour of Christmas films and changing American values to ask the question, What does Christmas mean to us?