Star Bright: A Christmas Story

by Andrew M. Greeley

Book Overview

It's beginning to look a lot like an American Christmas: unpleasant relatives, miserable travel, a slobbering dog-and one "harmless American of Irish origins," Jack Flanigan, who is reluctantly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031286387X
• ISBN13: 9780312863876
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 127 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!

Wow! A wonderful immersion into both the Irish-American Catholic and the Russian Orthodox cultures, this little book is full of Christmas spirit! While taking a class over at Harvard University, Boston College student Jack Flanigan meets an enchanting beauty named Tatiana. The two strike up an unlikely but sweetly romantic friendship. Jack reluctantly invites her to Chicago to spend Christmas with his large and quite boisterous family, fearing that the deeply religious Tatiana will be turned off by the commercialism and overwhelmed by the dysfunctional crowd. But as Tatiana has found a way into confirmed bachelor Jack's heart, she also manages to win over his family. There are no words to describe how much I loved this story. It was very well-written, with wonderful characterizations, descriptive settings, and positive dialogue. This couple, who personify true love, as well as the irresistable Flanigan family, will stay with me long after I put this book down.

A lovely Christmas gift

I'm a sucker for a Christmas story, and an admirer of Greeley's work. No one makes family dynamics more fascinating, or has a greater appreciation for women. This is an offbeat little love story, with love being the operative word. Tatiana, the Russian student Irish Catholic Jack takes home to meet the folks in Chicago for Christmas, is a magical heroine who brings joy and hope to a dysfunctional family. It leaves you smiling and believing in the wonder of the season.

A True Little Spiritual Classic

Greeley's Irish Chicago meets sexy lay Russian Orthodox women's Christian mysticism somewhere between Boston College and Harvard Yard. Its improbability viz the Greeley corpus actually helps him compress a short, simple, yet spiritually sublime plot-and-reflections. (No Ryan family-tree to keep straight in your head!) If Odessa/Tatiana doesn't "seduce" you in many different (good!) ways, get your head, heart, spirit, and hormone-levels examined! This book is little, but read it nice and slow, sometimes a page a day when herself is showing boyfriend Jack, his disgruntled family, and us a truer world-next-door spiritually. And read it over and over...maybe every December during the crush of the holidays. (Deeper than that Christmas pageant story they put on TV back in the '80s.) You'll find more than one new gem each time through--'pearls of great price,' for no great price! And it might just improve your life...and that of your significant others! Give it to a friend or two, too. Profound, fun, cross-cultural, sexy but not "steamy" (Darn!), not a murder mystery but that's OK; further developments in Greeley's study and reporting of 'normal' Christians' approach to life. Technically, some typos and words missing, but it's usually clear what it is, so you lose no meaning. And stay with the meaning, because it's overflowing with it! And hardback is OK because it'll get used over and over for years to come. Sounds like he's working on a series of compressed, reflective, theological Christmas-y novels; great idea!

Fanciful!

Twitterpated, the boy doesn't have a chance against the lovely Odessa. (Nor should he...) This book is a holiday must-read! No Greeley fan should miss it.

Greeley at his best

This book is vintage Greeley. For all of you who dread the upcoming holidays, read this book, which presents the Christmas message of love and second chances through the agents of a lovely Russian woman and a delightful, slobbery, Irish Wolfhound.