CHRISTMAS ON JANE STREET: A True Story

by Billy with Wanda Urbanska Romp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1998

Romp, his wife, and their three children have set up shop on the comer of Jane Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan every year for the past decade, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, selling Christmas trees to otherwise jaded New Yorkers. This slender, deft memoir of one such season stands out from the ""how Christmas brings out the best in us"" genre by virtue of its subplot, involving Romp's coming to terms with his daughter Ellie's emerging independence. Weaving in and out of the many anecdotes about the manner in which Christmas (and its moot visible symbol, the Christmas tree) serves to dissolve some of the hard shell of cynicism and rancor that Manhattanites are reputed to carry is the narrative of how Romp slowly discovers that his ""special gift"" of letting his customers ""be themselves"" also has to be applied to his own children. In coming to terms with the fact that his daughter has interests, ideas, and ambitions separate from his own, Romp discovers what the narrative suggests may be the season's most essential lesson: ""to learn how to give for the sake of giving"" without ""expecting anything in return.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0061626422

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998

Categories: NONFICTION