Merry Christmas

Joel Waldfogel would have us take Black Friday and turn it back into the start to just another weekend, just another season. In his new book Scroogenomics, Waldfogel explains in plainly understood economic language why binge shopping, the sort that drives most folks' holiday surge, is indeed bad for the economy. In Waldfogel's equation, the pleasure derived from a gift received must at a minimum equal if not exceed the price paid for said gift. But when you tear open that lovingly wrapped box from Aunt Betsy to find an argyle sweater, the equation swings wildly out of balance. Aunt Betsy would have been better off spending that money on herself or asking you specifically what you had wanted.
Christmas shopping isn't likely to suffer much from the echo of Waldfogel's publication, but for those who pay attention, there might be a tad more thought given before buying those golf themed pajamas.
Waldfogel won't earn any nods from toddlers or parents intent on out doing the neighbors. Where he will earn some attention, perhaps, is with those who need a poke to push them away from senseless gift giving and toward a more thoughtful approach to sharing with others.

National Winner?

She might not win the National Book Award next week, but Bonnie Jo Campbell's American Salvage won't lose to a better book. Set in rural southern Michigan, the collection of short stories is a testament to the bittersweet combination of small town loyalties and limited opportunities. Campbell's characters are tainted by the stink of meth addiction, while at the same time marked by the full range of human emotion.
Campbell, author of Women & Other Animals, as well as Q Road, again traffics in damaged lives weighted by unemployment, family dysfunction, and small town sensibilities. The result is an alchemy of powerful disappointment.