As part of my preparation for Santa season - my first two appearances are this weekend - and for my on Santa book, I decided to read some of my Santa/Christmas related books. The most recent one was The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn.
I wanted to see how Guinn treated Santa as there are some similarities to what I am writing (currently some 50,000 words in!). His premise was interesting: Santa dictating his autobiography to clear up misinformation.
The book started off well. It dealt with the early history of St. Nicholas, an and some of the myths about him in those days in a reasonable way.
But then the book started to head off in directions I thought did not ring true. It certainly downplayed the fact that he was a bishop and a saint, downplaying his spiritual side and focusing more on the secular side. I could have lived with that, as this was a book for a secular audience. But then it started getting silly, and not in a good way.
Suddenly Santa began gathering a crew of helpers who shared in his longevity - including Attila the Hun, King Arthur, and Teddy Roosevelt! St. Francis of Assisi also joins the crew, but Guinn mistakenly identifies him as a priest. Plus, Santa began playing a role in a number of historical and literary events, including helping George Washington and Charles Dickens! I was reminded of Forrest Gump; indeed, this book was published in 1994, the same year the Gump movie came out.
The second half of he book had less of the charm of the first half.
My overall assessment is it was okay, but not a book I would enthusiastically endorse.
Pax et bonum
