The Complete New Yorker by The New Yorker

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. Are you done with your shopping? There's still a good long weekend if you're not, but this is it for me. Tomorrow morning, we are leaving for Los Angeles. And, for the first time, my parents are going to drive down with us. Then they will come to E's parents' house for Christmas dinner. That'll be interesting.

Because of Christmas away from home, present-opening will begin tonight and continue throughout the weekend. E and I don't need to bring all our gifts for each other all the way to L.A. and back, so we might open one or two tonight as our own private Christmas. Then, tomorrow, we will give my parents their gifts because we don't want E's family to feel awkward about not having gifts for them on Christmas day. And tomorrow, our first stop will be dropping my parents off at my grandfather's house, so there will be a dinner and more gift-giving.

I suppose it's nice to have an entire weekend devoted to a holiday, forcing you to finish preparations a little early so that you can spend a few days relaxing. And where we are now, right on the cusp, is also a good time to reflect on past gifts.

I don't get a lot of books as gifts because people know that I'm in the book business and I've got books coming out of my ears. It's sort of sad, but it's my lot in life-- a mixed blessing, I suppose. But last year, E got me a HUGE present: The Complete New Yorker. Technically, it's not a book but a set of eight DVDs with, well, every single New Yorker issue since the inception of the magazine. So it's all about reading, and it comes packaged like a book, and it's got an ISBN number, so I think it counts.

Naturally, there is no way I could find time to read much of it, but this is one of those things that makes me happy just knowing I own it. And a few times, it has come in quite handy, like when I found out that Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain" was originally published in the New Yorker. I had a copy of it printed out before you could say Jake Gyllenhaal. It was great. (Not the short story so much, but The Complete New Yorker.)

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you get lots of interesting books! I'll be back on Tuesday. Hopefully.

The Complete New Yorker by The New Yorker