For that Doctor Who fan on your gift list, here’s a perfect present! All 11 Doctor Who Christmas Specials are here on three Blu-ray discs (DVD format is also available). I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since PBS started broadcasting episodes back in the 1970s. When the BBC “rebooted” the Doctor Who series for the 21st Century, I’ve been a huge fan. You need no prior Doctor Who exposure to enjoy these wonderful Christmas Specials. Plus you get a replica of the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver! It doesn’t get much better than this! GRADE: A

The Classic Christmas 80s Album flunks the Deb Test (no “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” here!) but for the nostalgia lover on your gift list, here’s a Christmas CD that will bring back a lot of memories. My favorite song on this CD is Hall & Oates’s “Jingle Bell Rock.” The songs on this album run the gamut from rap–“Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C.–to heart-felt–“This One’s For the Children” by New Kids on the Block–to uplifting, Whitney Houston’s moving version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” This is one of the eclectic Christmas song collections I’ve heard. What’s your favorite Christmas song? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1. Christmas Wrapping – Waitresses
2. Last Christmas – Wham!
3. Hazy Shade of Winter – Bangles
4. Christmas In Hollis – Run-D.M.C.
5. Jingle Bell Rock – Oates & Oates
6. Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
7. Christmas Is the Time to Say “I Love You” – Billy Squier
8. Run Rudolph Run – Dave Edmunds
9. Zat You Santa Claus – Buster Poindexter & His Banshees of Blue
10. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Pointer Sisters
11. Christmas Time Is Here – Ray Parker
12. Twelve Days of Christmas – Bob McKenzie
13. This One’s for the Children – New Kids on the Block
14. Slick Nick, You Devil You – Fishbone
15. Silent Night – Hooters

After the Bills (5-6) loss in Kansas City last Sunday their chances of making the Playoffs plunged to a mere 20%. Today’s game against the suddenly resurgent Houston Texans (6-5) looks like another loss for the red-white-and-blue. I was hoping for snow which might affect the Texans, but the weather-guessers are predicting a 50 degree day (a rare event here in December!). How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

You would think that 100 CDs of Christmas music would be enough, but somehow each year I buy a couple more. I read some positive reviews of Rhonda Vincent’s Christmas album and AMAZON had it on sale for $6 on Cyber Monday so I ordered it. If you’re a fan of fiddle and bluegrass music, you’ll really like these songs. Check out the sample below. There are some standards with some new songs mixed in. I found it entertaining. GRADE: B+
SET LIST:
Dreaming of Christmas
Angels We Have Heard on High
Twelve Days of Christmas
Christmas Time
Christmas Time at Home
Milk & Cookies
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Jingle Bells
Away in a Manger
Silent Night
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Christmas Medley: What a Child Is This/We Three Kings/It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It’s hard to believe I’ve contributed 350 Friday’s Forgotten Books posts to Patti Abbott. I wanted to do something a little special to celebrate the occasion so I’ve chosen a book that electrified me the first time I read it. Harlan Ellison’s Ellison Woderland thrilled me in 1962. I was 14 years old and by that time I was reading a book a day. But none of the books I read were as different as Ellison Wonderland. The short stories in this collection were completely original and astonishing for their time. Years later, I read the Bluejay edition of Ellison Wonderland. Harlan Ellison prefers this edition of his stories (he “tweaked” some of them). In the Introduction to this later edition, Ellison writes about the impact Ellison Wonderland had on his writing career. It allowed Ellison to move to L.A. and begin writing for television programs like Burke’s Law and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. So Ellison Wonderland impacted Ellison’s life and my life. If you haven’t read Ellison Wonderland, you’re missing a classic!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: The Man on the Mushroom
Commuter’s Problem
Do-it-yourself
The Silver Corridor
All the Sounds of Fear
Gnomebody
The Sky is Burning
Mealtime
The Very Last Day of a Good Woman
Battlefield
Deal from the Bottom
The Wind Beyond the Mountains
Back to the Drawing Boards
Nothing for My Noon Meal
Hadj
Rain, Rain, Go Away
In Lonely Lands

Impulse buying happens in stores. Impulse book choices happen when I’m in a library minding my own business and a book catches my eye. That’s what happened when I saw Dinty Moore’s slim little volume, Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy. Moore invited his essay writing friends to send him questions which he uses as a launching pad for a mostly comic essay. If you check out the Table of Contents you’ll see how wacky things get. I read the book in about an hour. It was fun while it lasted. If you’re looking for something different and quirky, this is it. GRADE: B+
Table Of Contents
introduction 1
A Question from Phillip Lopate & “Of Old Girlfriends” 4
A Question from Cheryl Strayed & “Dash It All” 14
A Question from Julianna Baggott & “The Napkin Is the Message” 22
A Question from Judith Kitchen & “A Striped Essay” 44
A Question from Barrie Jean Borich & “Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge” 56
A Question from Lia Purpura & “Understanding Your Cauliflower” 70
A Question from Sue William Silverman & “How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman” 78
A Question from B.J. Hollars & “Have You Learned Your Lesson, Amigo?” 86
A Question from Diane Ackerman & “Of Bums” 100
A Question from Dinah Lenney & “Pulling Teeth, or Twenty Reasons Why My Daughter’s Turning Twenty Can’t Come Soon Enough” 106
A Question from Philip Graham & “How to Choose an Appropriate Essay Topic” 116
A Question from Michael Martone & “Four Essential Tips for Telling the Truth in Memoir and Securing That Blockbuster Book Deal” 120
A Question from Patrick Madden & “The Actual Message Mike the Tree Guy Left on My Answering Machine the Evening I Arrived Home to Find that the Tree He Was Cutting Down When I Left
for Work That Morning Still Stood Tall in My Side Yard” 136
A Question from Steve Almond & “An Essay on the Inherent Dangers of Memoir Writing” 140
A Question from Ander Monson & “Nelson Algren’s Shorts” 144
A Question from Brenda Miller & “Why I Trained My Dog to Post” 154
A Question from David Shields & “Beep! Beep!” 168
A Question from Roxane Gay & “Don’t Read This Essay” 174
A Question from Brian Doyle & “Clogged and Stupid and Weary” 182
A Question from Lee Gutkind 186
acknowledgments 191
about the author 193
index 195

If you’re looking for something for that art buff on your holiday gift list, consider The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History just published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. Stephen Jones knows horror (he’s edited several horror and faux-Lovecraft anthologies). Zombies, vampires, and things that go bump in the night are all here. Great illustrators like Virgil Finlay, Hannes Bok, Kelly Freas, Les Edwards, Vincent Chong, Michael Whelan, and Berni Wrightson are well represented. Over 250 pages of wonderful artwork and a running commentary on the trends in horror over the decades: what more could you ask for! GRADE: A

If you’re looking for a gift for the movie buff on your holiday list, you might consider Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection. This Blu-rays offer crisp, clear transfers of the original films. And the SPECIAL FEATURES are intriguing, too. Check them out! For $30 on AMAZON, this box set is a steal! GRADE: A
Special Features
Disc 1 – Rear Window:
Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary
A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Masters of Cinema
Feature Commentary with John Fawell, Author of Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
Disc 2 – Vertigo:
Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock’s Collaborators
Hitchcock / Truffaut
Foreign Censorship Ending
The Vertigo Archives
Feature Commentary with Film Director William Friedkin
Theatrical Trailer
Restoration Theatrical Trailer
100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
D-BOX
Disc 3 – North by Northwest:
Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style
Cary Grant: A Class Apart
Feature Commentary by Screenwriter Ernest Lehman
Stills Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 4 – Psycho (1960):
The Making of Psycho
Psycho Sound
In The Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
The Psycho Archives
Posters and Psycho Ads
Lobby Cards
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-release Trailers
My Scenes
Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”)
BD-Live
Disc 5 – The Birds:
Deleted Scene
The Original Ending
The Birds: Hitchcock’s Monster Movie
All About The Birds
Storyboard Sequence
Tippi Hedren’s Screen Test
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel)
Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel)
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics
100 Years of Universal: The Lot
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
D-BOX

I’m a big fan of Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club and Lit so I was eager to read Karr’s new book, The Art of Memoir. Karr takes writing a memoir seriously (I wish could take her writing class at Syracuse University!). If you check out the Table of Contents, you’ll see the range of Karr’s interests and her approach to writing. I consider The Art of Memoir to be one of the best books I’ve read this year! But the big bonus is her Appendix: Required Reading–Mostly Memoirs and Some Hybrids which I typed out for you to appreciate. How many of those books have you read? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Caveat Emptor xi
Preface: Welcome to My Chew Toy xiii
1 The Past’s Vigor
2 The Truth Contract Twixt Writer and Reader
3 Why Not to Write a Memoir: Plus a Pop Quiz to Protect the Bleeding & Box Out the Rigid
4 A Voice Conjures the Human Who Utters It
5 Don’t Try This at Home: The Seductive, Narcissistic Count
6 Sacred Carnality
7 How to Choose a Detail
8 Hucksters, the Deluded, and Big Fat Liars
9 Interiority and Inner Enemy—Private Agonies Read Deeper Than External Whammies
10 On Finding the Nature of Your Talent
11 The Visionary Maxine Hong Kingston
12 Dealing with Beloveds (On and Off the Page)
13 On Information, Facts, and Data
14 Personal Run-Ins with Fake Voices
15 On Book Structure and the Order of Information
16 The Road to Hell Is Paved with Exaggeration
17 Blind Spots and False Selves
18 Truth Hunger: The Public and Private Burning of Kathryn Harrison
19 Old-School Technologies for the Stalled Novice
20 Major Reversals in Cherry and Lit
21 Why Memoirs Fail
22 An Incomplete Checklist to Stave Off Dread
23 Michael Herr: Start in Kansas, End in Oz
24 Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision
Acknowledgments
Appendix| Required Reading—Mostly Memoirs and Some Hybrids
Permissions

APPENDIX: REQUIRED READING–MOSTLY MEMOIRS AND SOME HYBRIDS
The asterisked memoirs are books I’ve taught. Does this mean they’re better written? Absolutely.

*Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams and Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
*Allende, Isabel. The Sum of Our Days
*Als, Hilton. The Women
Amis, Martin. Experience
*Angelou, Maya. I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Antrim, Donald. The Afterlife
*Arenas, Reinaldo. Before Night Falls
Ayer, Pico. Falling Off the Map
*Saint Augustine. Confessions

Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Sun
*Batuman, Elif. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
*Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Home
Beck, Edward. God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest
*Bernhard, Thomas. Gathering Evidence
*Black Elk. Black Elk Speaks
Blow, Charles M. Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential
Boyett, Micha. Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer
Brave Bird, Mary. Lakota Woman
*Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land
*Buford, Bill. Among the Thugs and Heat
Burgess, Anthony. Little Wilson and Big God: Being the First Part of the Confessions of Anthony Burgess
Busch, Benjamin. Dust to Dust

Cairns, Scott. Short Trip to the Edge
Carr, David. The Night of the Gun
Carroll, James. Practicing Catholic
*Chaudhuri, Nirad C. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian
*Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia
Chast, Rox. Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
*Cheever, Susan. Home Before Dark
*Cherry-Garrard, Apsley. The Worst Journey in the World
Churchill, Winston. My Early Life, 1874-1904
Ciszek, Walter, SJ. With God in Russia
*Coetzee, J. M. Boyhood
Collins, Judy. Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing
*Conroy, Frank. Stop-Time
Conway, Jill Ker. The Road form Coorain
Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain
*Crews, Harry. A Childhood: The Biography of a Place and Blood and Grits
*Crick, Francis and James Watson. The Double Helix
Crowell, Rodney. Chinaberry Sidewalks

Dau, John Bul. God Grew Tired of Us
*Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness
*Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa
*Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking
*Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood
*Doty, Mark. Heaven’s Coast
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
*Dubus, Andre, III. Townie
Dunham, Lena. Not That Kind of Girl
Dylan, Bob. Chronicles

Eggers, Dave. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Eire, Carlos. Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
*Exley, Frederick. A Fan’s Notes

Fey, Tina. Bossypants
Forna, Aminatta. The Devil That Danced on the Water
Fox, Paula. Borrowed Finery
Frame, Janet. An Autobiography
Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
*Frazier, Ian. On the Rez
Frenkel, Edward. Love and Math
Fuller, Alexandra. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

*Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Living to Tell the Tale
Gellhorn, Martha. Travels With Myself and Another
Geronimo. My Life
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love
*Ginzburg, Yevgenia. Journey Into the Whirlwind
*Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
*Graves, Robert. Good-Bye to All That
Gray, Francine du Plessix. Them: A Memoir of Parents
Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face
Greene, Graham. A Sort of Life
Guevara, Ernesto Che. The Motorcycle Diaries

*Haley, Alex, and Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Hamilton, Gabriella. Blood, Bones & Butter
Hampl, Patricia. A Romantic Education
*Hardy, G. H. A Mathematician’s Apology
*Harrison, Kathryn. The Kiss
*Haxton, Brooks. Fading Hearts on the River: A Life in High-Stakes Poker
*Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast
*Herr, Michael. Dispatches
*Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar
Hogan, Linda. The Woman Who Watches Over the World
Hongo, Garrett. Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai;i
Hooks, Bell. Bone Black
Huang, Eddie. Fresh Off the Boat
*Hurston, Zora Neal. Dust Tracks on a Road

Irving, Debby. Waking Up White

Jackson, Phil. Sacred Hoops
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jamison, Kay. An Unquiet Mind
Jordan, June. Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood

Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life
Kidder, Tracy. House
*Kincaid, Jamaica. My Brother
King, Stephen. On Writing
*Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior
Knausgard, Karl Ove. My Struggles series
*Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air
Lawrence, T. E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Least Heat-Moon, William. Blue Highways: A Journey into America
*Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz
*Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy
Liao Yiwu. For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet’s Journey Through a Chinese Prison
Lopate, Philip. Against Joie de Vivre
*Lorde, Audre, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
*Lowell, Robert. “91 Revere Street,” in Life Studies

Macdonald, Helen. H is for Hawk
Malan, Rian. My Traitor’s Heart
Mandela, Nelson. Conversations with Myself
*Mandelstam, Nadezhda. Hope Against Hope and Hope Abandoned
Manguso, Sarah. The Two Kinds of Decay
*Mantel, Hilary. Giving Up the Ghost
*Markham, Beryl. West with the Night
Martin, Steve. Born Standing Up
*Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leapard
Mayle, Peter. A Year in Provence
*McBride, James. The Color of Water
McCarthy, Mary. Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
*McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes
McPhee, John. Coming into the Country
*Merton, Thomas. The Seven Storey Mountain
*Milburn, Michael. Odd Man In
*Mingus, Charles. Beneath the Underdog
Momaday, N. Scott. The Names
Monette, Paul. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir
Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi
Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

*Nabokov, Vladimir. Speak, Memory
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
*Neruda, Pablo. Memoirs
Nolan, Ty. Memoir of a Reluctant Shaman
Norris, Kathleen. The Cloister Walk

Oates, Joyce Carol. A Widow’s Story
Olsen, Tillie. Silences
*Ondaatje, Michael. Running in the Family
O’Rourke, Meghan. The Long Goodbye
Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia, Burmese Days, and Down and Out in London and Paris

Parker, Mary Louise. Dear Mr. You
*Patchett, Ann. Truth & Beauty
Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Raban, Jonathan. Bad Land
Radziwill, Carole. What Remains
Raphael, Lev. My Germany
Red Cloud. The Heart of Everything That Is
Reed, Ishmael. Blues City
Rios, Albert. Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir
*Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory
Roth, Marco. The Scientists
Russell, Bertrand. The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

*St. Aubyn, Edward. The Patrick Melrose novels
Sallans, Ryan. Second Son
Santiago, Esmeralda. When I Was Puerto Rican
Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Words
*Sassoon, Siegfried. Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
*Shackleton, Ernest. South: The Endurance Expedition
Shakkur, Assata. Assata
Shakur, Sanyika. Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
*Shreyngart, Gary. Little Failure
Sleigh, Tom. Interview with a Ghost
Smith, Patti. Just Kids
Smith, Tracy K. Ordinary Light
Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon
Sontag, Susan. Illness as a Metaphor
Soto, Jock. Every Step You Take
Stahl, Jerry. Permanent Midnight
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild

Tan, Amy. The Opposite of Fate: A book of Musings
Theroux, Paul. Old Patagonia Express
Tolstoy, Leo. Childhood, Boyhood, Youth
Thompson, Ahmir-Khalib. Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Trillin, Calvin. About Alice
*Twain, Mark. Autobiography of Mark Twain

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle
Wainaina, Binyavanga. One Day I Will Write About This PLace
Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery
Watt, Robert Lee. The Black Horn
Weil, Simone. Waiting for God, Gravity and Grace
*Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings
White, Edmund. My Lives
White, T. H. The Goshawk
*Wideman, John Edgar. Brothers and Keepers
*Wiesel, Elie. Night
Winterson Jeanette. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
*Wolfe, Tom. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
*Wolff, Geoffrey. The Duke of Deception and A Day at the Beach
*Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army
Woolf, Virginia. Moments of Being
*Wright, Richard. American Hunger

*Yen Mah, Adeline. Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

Zailckas, Koren. Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

USEFUL BOOKS ABOUT MEMOIR
Adams, Timothy Dow. Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography
Leibowitz, Herbert. Fabricating Lives
Shields, David. Reality Hunger
Yagoda, Ben. Memoir: A History

The Buffalo Bills season all comes down to this game with Kansas City. The New York Times Playoff Simulator says that if the Bills win this game against the Chiefs, the Bills will have a 65% chance of making the Playoffs. But, if the Bills lose to the Chiefs today, the Bills Playoff chances plunge to 29%! Yikes! So this is a make-it-or-break-it game for the inconsistent Buffalo Bills. I’m hoping they’re “ON” today. How about your favorite NFL team? Where do they stand?