The Myths that Stole Christmas: Seven Misconceptions that Hijacked the Holiday (and How We Can Take It Back) by David Kyle Johnson

The Myths that Stole Christmas: Seven Misconceptions that Hijacked the Holiday (and How We Can Take It Back) Reviews

• 
  John Duff

  A light and compelling elaboration, discrediting common misconceptions of Christmas’ origins, traditions, social impact, and economic influence. Johnson’s minimalist approach offers accessibility to thorough arguments for a popular audience. I was mostly intrigued by the chapters on Christmas commercialism and the Santa Claus lie, where Johnson advances a compelling, seemingly counter-intuitive, argument for not lying to children about Santa. A succinct and entertaining read, ‘The Myths That Stole Christmas’ should be wedged between the book you’re reading now and the next-in-line on your reading list. Fit it in before Christmas arrives; you will not be disappointed.
• 
  Michael McKeever

  A detailed history of Christmas from a new perspective
• 
  Brian

  This is a far-ranging and impeccably researched book focused on Christmas, but touching on many other topics, including separation of church and state, economics, history of religion, language, and sociology. Parts of it were detailed rehashes of information I'd read many times before, but parts were quite new to me and interesting. The chapter on the origins of the Santa Claus myth was particularly informative; the author makes the case that Santa Claus is not at all based on St Nicholas.
  
  The author claims initially that the book will end with advice about "taking back" Christmas, and I was dreading what that might amount to. I was pleased to see it was more along the lines of do what you want, don't tell others what to do, and consider not telling kids that Santa is literally real. I don't wish to "take back" Christmas, I find the holiday dreadful, and I wish there were more encouragement in the book for just dropping the holiday altogether, rather than transforming it.
  
  I also wish the author were not quite so gentle with religion, most notably in the Santa chapters. I do think the Santa myth is very much like the God myth, I don't see any substantive difference in the preposterousness of either, and I know of a number of people who have become atheists through analogy with Santa. That's good, that's critical thinking. Maybe the parents who are worried that learning Santa is fiction might lead their kids to question God should give some thought to their own beliefs.
• 
  Nick Gotch

  As an atheist who still enjoys Christmas I wanted to learn more about the secular and pagan roots of the holiday and this book hit it dead on the nail. It's full of historical references, with plenty of citations. It covers things ranging from the Ancient Roman celebrations and Yule, the "Christianizing" of Christmas, and the more recent developments often falsely attributed to much older times.
  Beyond the origins the book does s great job tackling other Christmas myths, like the need to spend and telling children the Santa lie.
  I'm very happy to have read this and would recommend it to anyone. Christmas should be a holiday to enjoy and the best way to do that is to disregard the "necessary traditions" when they work against that end and instead make the holiday what actually brings us the joy it should.
• 
  C. Varn

  An enjoyable read with quite a few interesting facts, and a perhaps a little bit too much speculation. The history around Christmas and its relationship to pre-Christian traditions is fascinating as well as the fact most Christmas traditions are less 150 years-old. There are several interesting historical facts in the book that I was unaware of, and the gentle but lightly sarcastic tone Johnson employs makes it highly enjoyable. I do think he may over-conclude in the "Santa Claus" origins section, but he does admit that this was actually the hardest to do research on as many misconceptions are reported as fact. A good read.
• 
  Eliana

  This book belongs in the home of every family who loves to celebrate Christmas traditions - whatever their background or religious beliefs (or lack thereof). The book invites readers to do away with the more counterproductive aspects of our holiday traditions (e.g., our propensity to overspend), and most importantly, invites an opportunity to use Christmas as a unifying force in our society. It is meticulously researched but written in an accessible style. I can see it appealing to hard core history buffs and casual readers alike.
• 
  Scott Humphries

  With some spell-checking and a more expanded historical analysis, this could be a great book. Johnson tries to make the work both a historical review and a sociological primer. A little more of the former and a little less of the latter would, I think, greatly improve it. That said, props for having taken on the unpopular task in the first place. I enjoyed reading this.