The Autobiography of Santa Claus

I can't even imagine how long it must have taken Jeff Guinn to research and piece together this unusual book, but the hard work was worth it. "The Autobiography of Santa Claus" is part novel, part history, and something that anyone who loves Saint Nicholas will be grateful to read.
Guinn tracks down the origins of nearly all pieces of the Santa Claus legends and pieces them together, beginning with the birth of Nicholas in 280 A.D. He traces a life that lasts over 1700 years and explains how every well-known story of Santa Claus came to be, mixing in science with magic and throwing in actual historical figures to color the piece. (You'll never believe who some of Santa's "helpers" actually turn out to be.) He takes the character through the dark ages, through the Victorian era, mixes him in with European and American history and literature and finally brings it all together in the present day.
The book doesn't have much of a climax, but that's because it is written as an "autobiography," not a novel. The stories just stop because they've all been told... for now. That's part of the miracle -- the knowledge that Santa Claus will outlast us all and continue bringing his true gift, hope, to children all over the world long after you and I are gone. It's a wonderful book,and for people who love Christmas, I can't recommend it enough.

I was unfamiliar with this book until I received it for Christmas from my boss. I was impressed by its elegant dust jacket and it looked like it would be a nice, comprehensive overview of all the Santa Claus myths and legends.

It starts out interestingly enough with a story about Bishop Nicholas of Myra, although I was a bit put off by the level of writing aimed at a 10 year old. Soon, however, the story deteriorates from the unmitigatingly ridiculous to the patently absurd. By story's end, Santa has recruited as his helpers along the way Attila the Hun, King Arthur, St. Francis of Assisi, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Sequoyah, Teddy Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart, to name but a few.

What on earth can be the purpose of injecting such nonsense into the beloved legend of Santa Claus? I would call it "revisionist history," but it's not even close to history. What is a child who hasn't yet studied history going to think when he or she has his or her first lesson on Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, or Teddy Roosevelt?

Santa himself becomes a thoroughly unlikeable character by the end of the book, a man with serious body-image issues who expresses himself exclusively by mumbling, grumbling, snapping, moaning, groaning, whining and complaining, and whose wife (a woman allegedly named "Layla") is a cheerless sort, constantly berating him. This story will do nothing to dissuade those who already don't believe in Santa Claus, and I'm afraid it will cause those who do to lose faith.

The dust jacket points out that the book has 24 chapters, one to be read aloud with your family starting Dec. 1 and continuing through Christmas Eve. I can't imagine any loving family subjecting themselves to such torture!

I started out loving this book. The opening line "you're right to believe in me", I thought was a fabulous way to begin. But most of the middle was just a long history lesson. It seemed like the author was trying to do his own personal commentary on the history of the world & war by pretending it was Santa's point of view. I found some of the famous people who became permenant Santa helpers hard to swallow; particularly Attila the Hun. What?! And when he got to Santa's commentary on how we shouldn't have fought the American Revolution I almost stopped reading the book. The ending was pretty good & had some magic, as did the beginning. So I'm torn. Overall I'm not sure it was worth the time to read it.

Although this book was a little slow at times (chalk it up to the ramblings of a VERY old man, who has lived a long and fun-filled life), I feel that everyone, bouth yound and old, should read this story. Live the magic of Christmas through Santa's eyes and never forget that to give up on Santa is to give up on hope! Merry Christmas!!! :)

Reading this book, I could not help but see it more as a vessel for the author to show off his extensive historical and Christian knowledge than a tale about Saint Nick. There were far too many unnecessary details that drew attention away from the story.

Something else that constantly pulled me out were the questions posed by Santa to the reader, it was as if the author wanted me to stop thinking about the story and instead realize how improbable it was that it was actually by Santa. I think with the direct questions, "That last chapter was rather sad, wasn't it?", he was attempting to remember a quainter time...it does not work for him.

If you want an innovative and beautiful Christmas read, try The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan

This book begins wonderfully; I was intrigued and delighted to get historical background on Saint Nicholaus and the little tid bits of historical accuracy that were tossed in after the death of historical Saint Nicholaus continued to interest me as I paged through the book. However, once the bulk of the history subsides and the "magic" kicks in, I really felt as though the author relied more on the a whistful "I do believe" spirit in his readers rather than plot or character development. Attila the Hun giving up war to join Santa Claus? That's just a little much for me.

Granted, when it comes to literature, I defintiely have a very bah-humbug approach. I can definitely see this book as a heart-warming for another less-critical reader who can dismiss my tendency for bah-humbug, and rolls with the magic-is-real, eyes-all-a-glow, Christmas feeling. It explains in a lot of detail each and every aspect of the American Santa's life and throws in inticing historical facts that are fun to quote at holiday parties, and while it doesn't exactly rely on realism, it does do a nice job of tieing up everything with a festive red bow.

For those people looking for a engaging Christmas read, I would say look elsewhere, but for someone who is looking to make cheery holiday library, I would say this is an sound edition.

I have to say that this book brings back the magic of the season. It was very well written and definately a page turner. I was suppose to read it in 24 nights but cheated and did it in 5. I will read this every year just before the season gets going. 5 stars plus.

Whatever your age ..... If you believe in Santa Claus this is a great read. This is a wonderful "pre-Christmas read" start after Thankgiving and you should be done before Christmas. I am retired and found the book to be very uplifting and inspiring for the Holidays/Holy days of the Christmas season. I you haven't used your "imagination" lately this book is for you.
The author, Jeff Guinn, put a lot of research into his writing .... enjoy.

Introducing the absurd genre "Christian Santa Apologetics".
The motivation seems to be that of a Christian family man trying to create a history for Santa that glorifies Christ and keeps that faith's tenants central to Christmas. The fact of the matter is that Santa's folkloric/mythological history is far more interesting than this shoddy Forrest Gump meets Wizard of Oz nonsense.
Santa is easily as much based on Bacchus and Odin as he is on Saint Nick - and the religious assertions throughout the book are equally biased and fallacious.
I feel badly for the readers who are being led to believe in this author's interpretations of the history of the western world, because they are despairingly lacking in objectivity or context.

I can see how a Christian family could turn to this book to marry the secular/pagan festivities of the holiday season to the belief that Christ's birthday is the 'reason for the season'. What is sadly lacking is the much more rich and interesting depth of the season's history, which is entirely non-Christian.
In fact, this book and its sequels make an adventure out of fighting to keep this square peg firmly in place in its circular hole - - actually taking to task the Christians who rightly sought to separate the church from it's participation in the non-Christian, non-Biblical celebration of Christmas.

I look forward to someday reading a work of this sort that actually addresses the origins, history and folklore of Santa Claus.

This book is a true gem. I only wish Santa had chosen to confide his life story twenty or so years ago, so that I could've shared it with my daughter as a child! This is a delightful blend of history and Santa's own story, and explains all the strange little details we've always wondered about. Every true lover of Christmas should read this one.