Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present by Hank Stuever; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Ray Porter

When Stuever’s narrative begins, he’s standing in line with the people waiting to purchase flat-screen TVs at Best Buy on Black Friday, the opening of the Christmas shopping season. From there he follows a number of key residents of Frisco, Texas, as they navigate through the nativity and all its attendant crises: Tammy Parnell, an eternally optimistic suburban mother and proprietor of “Two Elves with a Twist,” a company that decorates other people’s houses for Christmas; Jeff and Bridgett Trykoski, owners of that one house every town has, the house visible from space with the brightest and most awe-inspiring Christmas decorations; and single mother and Bank of America employee Caroll Cavazos, who hopes that the life-affirming moments of Christmas might overcome the struggles of the rest of the year.

Steuver’s portraits are at once humane, heartfelt, revealing—and very, very funny. Tinsel is a compelling tale of our half-trillion-dollar holiday, measuring what we’ve become against the ancient rituals of what we’ve always been.

“With impeccable research and solid reporting, Stuever has written the gift book that keeps on giving—Christmas consumerism wrapped together with traditional family values.”—Publishers Weekly