Skipping Christmas

Skipping Christmas is a 2001 satirical novella by John Grisham. It tells the story of Luther and Nora Krank, a married couple whose adult daughter, Blair, moves to Peru a month before Christmas. Facing their first Christmas without their daughter, and disillusioned by the holiday’s excesses, they decide to forego Christmas that year and go on a cruise instead. However, their decision brings them into conflict with their friends and neighbors, who expect them to conform to tradition. The story explores such themes such as Meaningful Connections and Materialism, Life’s Changes and Transitions, and Community Versus Individuality.

Skipping Christmas is John Grisham’s only novella-length work and his only satirical work. In 2004 it was adapted into a feature film, Christmas with the Kranks.

This guide uses the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Kindle Edition.

Content Warning: The source material uses outdated, offensive terms for people with disabilities, which is replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material.

Plot Summary

Luther and Nora Krank are at the airport with their adult daughter, Blair, who is leaving for Peru and the Peace Corps. Luther is exasperated by the crowds of people traveling on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There is someone in a Santa Claus costume ringing a bell. Nora is clinging to Blair.

After Blair boards the plane, Nora and Luther return home. They stop off at a shop, where Nora asks Luther to get her pistachios and chocolate. He is frustrated and irritated by the crowds and the Christmas decorations that are already going up. When he returns to the car, he has a radical idea. He wants to go on a Caribbean cruise and skip the chaos and crowds and commercialism of Christmas altogether. That night, he ascertains that their last Christmas cost the family over $6,000. A cruise costs half that. Luther convinces Nora that they can save money and get away from the sadness of their first Christmas without Blair in 23 years.

Luther’s plan requires that they skip Christmas entirely, including all decorations, parties, celebrations, food, and gifts. This doesn’t go over well with his neighbors, leading to conflict. Luther’s first big test is the Boy Scouts’ Christmas tree sale. Luther shocks the boys by refusing to buy a tree.

Luther’s neighbors on Hemlock Street are alarmed to hear that Luther won’t be participating in such community traditions as putting Frosty the Snowman on the roof. The neighbors vow not to take this affront lying down. They offer to mount the snowman themselves so that Luther needn’t be bothered, but Luther sticks to his guns, determined to avoid everything to do with the holiday.

Nora’s personal trial comes when her friends on a charity committee learn that she won’t be hosting the Krank family Christmas Eve bash. Escaping that confrontation, she returns home and finds a letter from Blair, who is having a wonderful time in Peru. Blair talks about the children she teaches and the perspective she has gained from them about mindless materialism. Nora feels a renewed determination to skip the materialism surrounding Christmas this year.

The Police Benevolent Association sells extortionately priced calendars every year for charity. This year, when they come to the Kranks’ door, Luther refuses to buy one of the calendars but offers to donate to the police department’s summer youth programs. The police officers depart in a huff. The city fire department collects money every year for toy drive. Luther refuses to buy an overpriced fruitcake but promises to donate to the fire department’s summer charity drive.

A group of Christmas carolers gathers on the Kranks’ lawn and begins to sing. They stay, singing, for over twenty minutes, finishing with “Frosty the Snowman.” The next morning, Luther finds a sign on his lawn reading “Free Frosty.” Luther becomes more stubbornly determined to do as he wishes. Not only does Hemlock Street lose the annual street-decorating contest, but the newspaper also runs a story about the Kranks skipping Christmas, featuring a photo of the Kranks’ house taken from the roof of the house across the street, which belongs to Walt Scheel, Luther’s chief rival on Hemlock Street. Nora learns that Walt’s wife, Beverly, has cancer and probably very little time left.

It is the morning of Christmas Eve, and Luther and Nora are preparing for their cruise, which departs the following morning, when they receive a phone call from Blair. Blair is in Miami. She is coming home for Christmas with her new fiancé, Enrique. Her flight arrives that evening, and she expects Christmas to be the same as always, complete with the party and decorations. Instead of telling the truth, Nora loses her head and promises it will be. Nora and Luther have only a few hours to throw together an entire Christmas.

Nora and Luther try to gather enough friends for a party, but everyone they know has other plans. The supermarket shelves are practically empty, and Nora can’t find anything to serve. They need a tree, but the tree lots are empty. One of Luther and Nora’s neighbors is leaving to spend Christmas with their extended family. Luther gets permission to borrow their tree. As Luther removes the tree, Walt Scheel calls the police to report him stealing it, and the officers who tried to sell Luther a calendar try to arrest him. They are stopped by Vic Frohmeyer, who vouches for Luther.

With the tree set up and redecorated with the Kranks’ own ornaments, Nora demands that Luther mount Frosty on the roof. Halfway through the process, Luther slips and slides headfirst down the roof and off the edge. He is saved by an extension cord tangled around his foot. Some of the neighbors have been watching Luther’s strange behavior. They rush to his assistance. The fire department arrives with an aid car and gets Luther down safely. Luther and Nora confess their situation to their neighbors. The whole neighborhood pitches in to throw the big Christmas party for Blair. Everyone comes, including the police officers and firefighters and medics. A roving troop of Christmas carolers are invited in.

Blair arrives with Enrique, who is charming. The party is a rousing success, but Luther still regrets missing out on his cruise. He realizes that Walt and Bev Scheel are not at the party. Telling no one where he is going, he crosses the street and gives the cruise tickets to Walt and Bev. He returns home thinking what a silly idea it was to try to skip Christmas. “Maybe next year” (177), he thinks.