An Indiana Christmas

Book excerpt: “A grand and thrilling selection of Hoosier writing presented through the fraught lens of Christmas . . . a fascinating and utterly enjoyable read.” —Michael Dahlie, award-winning author of The Best of Youth In An Indiana Christmas, editor Bryan Furuness brings together timeless short stories, poems, plays, and letters to help you get into the holiday spirit. Lose yourself in classics like “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd, which inspired the beloved movie A Christmas Story, and “A Feel in the Christmas Air”by James Whitcomb Riley, along with more recent literary works like “The Myth of the Perfect Christmas Photo Family” by Kelsey Timmerman and “While Mortals Sleep” by famed Indiana writer Kurt Vonnegut. To achieve the perfect combination of Christmas nostalgia and cheer, Furuness has curated Hoosier stories that allow you to experience an idyllic holiday gathering in “Indiana Winter” by Susan Neville, feel the excitement of a child on Christmas Eve with “Earthbound” by Barbara Shoup, and face the loneliness of a drifter on Christmas night in “Howard Garfield, Balladeer” by Edward Porter. The collection even offers the chance to read a Christmas war dispatch from the late, great Hoosier journalist Ernie Pyle. Heartfelt and unique, “the stories, poems, and essays in An Indiana Christmas will stay with you long after reading, no matter the season” (Sarah Layden, author of The Story I Tell About Myself). “A curl-up book you will savor year after year.” —Margaret McMullan, author of Where the Angels Lived