Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol

Book excerpt: A father and his autistic son awaken an unlikely Spirit of Christmas Past in this moving short novel nominated for the World Fantasy Award. When Brendan touches his four-year-old son, Peter screams and pulls away. He suffers from a form of autism known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder and has no idea how much his father longs to make him laugh. Their relationship is heartbreaking for Brendan, especially with Christmas on the horizon. An unlikely harbinger of the holidays arrives in the form of Tony Kemper, Brendan’s childhood friend who’s never quite gotten over his glory days as a 1970s punk sensation. Broke, unemployed, and homeless, Tony has recently become obsessed with the long-canceled Chip Crockett Show, a beloved television series from their childhood. Not a minute of footage remains of Chip, but these three companions are about to discover that when an entertainer is truly great, his magic lasts forever.