An Indiana Christmas

242 Pages·2020·17.396 MB·English

by  Bryan Furuness (editor)

Advance Praise for An Indiana Christmas
“An Indiana Christmas is a real treat, a guest list for the ideal Hoosier literary Yuletide dinner
party . . . old friends sharing the table with charming new company. Any home in the state
would do itself proud to have this delightful book placed above the hearth, at the ready for
aloud sampling throughout the holiday season.”
—Nathan Montoya, Proprietor, Village Lights Bookstore
“A grand and thrilling selection of Hoosier writing presented through the fraught lens
of Christmas. Both the new voices and the Pulitzer Prize winners here remind us of the
dangers of nostalgia while also giving license to the deepest pleasures of memory. This
is a fascinating and utterly enjoyable read, and I’m sure I’ll pick it up again over many
Christmases to come.”
—Michael Dahlie, author of A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living
“The stories, poems, and essays in An Indiana Christmas will stay with you long after
reading, no matter the season. The anthology brings to life all manner of Hoosiers: bearing
casseroles, pierogi, and trifles; snowblowing neighbors’ driveways just because; losing and
finding religion; and posing as Santa or his grinchy counterpart. You’ll see yourself in this
book made by, for, and about people searching for identity in a place as complex as any.”
—Sarah Layden, author of Trip Through Your Wires
“In this anthology, Furuness has successfully captured both the uniqueness and the
universality of an Indiana Christmas. Some experiences—like a child’s wish for a Red Ryder
BB gun—transcend time, age, and circumstance; others—like Susan Neville’s depiction of
a country Christmas party—remind longtime Hoosiers of holiday gatherings as reprieves
from dark, cold nights in a ‘landlocked state.’ The collection brings Indiana’s great writers—
past and present—into conversation with each other, exploring the way in which this special
time of year connects us with community and, ultimately, brings us home.”
—Megan Telligman, Program Manager, Indiana Humanities

An
INDIANA
Christmas

An
INDIANA
Christmas
Edited by

bryan furuness
IndIana UnIversIty Press
This book is a publication of
IndIana UnIversIty Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
© 2020 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Furuness, Bryan, editor.
Title: An Indiana Christmas / Bryan Furuness.
Description: Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019050616 (print) | LCCN 2019050617 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780253050281 (hardback) | ISBN 9780253050298 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Christmas—Literary collections.
Classification: LCC PS509.C56 I53 2020 (print) |
LCC PS509.C56 (ebook) | DDC 813/.01080334—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050616
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050617
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Reprinted by Permission
“Winter Scene, Past Midnight” by Matthew Brennan, originally published in The Cape Rock
magazine in 1985. Reprinted in The Music of Exile by Matthew Brennan, published by
Wyndham Hall Press. Copyright © 1994. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Fable of the Cut-Up Who Came Very Near Losing His Ticket, but Who Turned Defeat
into Victory” by George Ade from The Girl Proposition, published by Harper & Brothers.
Copyright © 1902. Reprinted from public domain.
“Making Pierogi on Christmas Eve” from Beyond the Velvet Curtain by Karen Kovacik,
published by Kent State University Press. Copyright © 1999. Reprinted by permission
of the author.
“Keeping Christmas Our Way” from Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter, pub-
lished by Indiana University Press. Copyright © 1988. Reprinted from public domain.
“Digging and Grousing” by Ernie Pyle, originally published in Scripps-Howard newspa-
pers. Reprinted in Ernie’s War: The Best of Ernie Pyle’s World War II Dispatches, published
by Random House Publishing Group, edited by David Nichols. Copyright © 1943. Used
by permission of the Scripps Howard Foundation.
“The farm wife finds grace in her empty barn” from The Farm Wife’s Almanac by Shari
Wagner, published by Cascadia Publishing House LLC. Copyright © 2019. Used by
permission of Cascadia Publishing House LLC.
“The farm wife makes her Christmas list” by Shari Wagner, originally published in
From the Edge of the Prairie by the Prairie Writers Guild. Reprinted in The Farm Wife’s
Almanac, published by Cascadia House Publishing LLC. Copyright © 2019. Used by
permission of Cascadia Publishing House LLC.
“Indiana Winter” from Indiana Winter by Susan Neville, published by Indiana University
Press. Copyright © 1994. Reprinted by permission of Indiana University Press.
“Home for the Holidays” from Hit the Ground by Liz Whiteacre, published by Finishing
Line Press. Copyright © 2013. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Reversible Santa Claus” from A Reversible Santa Claus by Meredith Nicholson, published
by The Riverside Press. Copyright © 1917. Reprinted from public domain.
“Definition of ‘Christmas’” from The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, published by
Arthur F. Bird. Copyright © 1906. Reprinted from public domain.
“Letter” by Ambrose Bierce from A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters of Ambrose
Bierce, published by Ohio State University Press, edited by S. T. Joshi and David E.
Schultz. Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Ohio State University Press.
“Shepherds, Why This Jubilee?” by Bryan Furuness, originally published online at www.
barrelhousemag.com. Copyright © 2015. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Pictures from a Clapboard House” from The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West.
Copyright © 1945, renewed 1943 by Jessamyn West. Reprinted by permission of
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
“Too Cold” by Jayne Marek, originally in The Bend. Copyright © 2013. Reprinted by per-
mission of the author.
“Winter Runes” from The Tree Surgeon Dreams of Bowling by Jayne Marek, published by
Finishing Line Press. Copyright © 2018. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Trifles” by Lori Rader-Day, originally published as “Layers of Love” in Good Housekeeping.
Copyright © 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Nanny Anne and the Christmas Story” by Karen Joy Fowler, originally published online
at www.subterraneanpress.com. Reprinted in Year’s Best Weird Fiction Volume 2 by
Michael Kelly and Kathe Koia. Copyright © 2014. Reprinted by permission of the
author.
“Blessed rancor of music” by Curtis Crisler, published in Tipton Poetry Journal by Brick
Street Poetry, Inc. Copyright © 2012. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Christmas Long Ago” by James Whitcomb Riley, originally published in The Interior.
Copyright © 1894. Reprinted from public domain.
“A Feel in the Christmas Air” by James Whitcomb Riley, originally published in The
Journal of Education. Copyright © 1894. Reprinted from public domain.
“A Song for Christmas” from The Old Soldier’s Story: Poems and Prose Sketches by James
Whitcomb Riley, published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company. Copyright © 1913.
Reprinted from public domain.
“The Toys I Remember” by Melissa Fraterrigo, originally aired on The Art of the Matter on
WFYI. Copyright © 2017. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Letters to Santa reproduced by permission from Indiana University Press, Letters to Santa
Claus (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015).
“Howard Garfield, Balladeer” by Edward Porter, originally published online in 2012
for Booth literary magazine. Reprinted in Winesburg, Indiana by Indiana University
Press, edited by Bryan Furuness. Copyright © 2015. Used by permission of Indiana
University Press.
vi reprinted by permission
Excerpt from Mr. Bingle by George Barr McCutcheon, published by Dodd, Mead and
Company. Copyright © 1915. Reprinted from public domain.
“The Schneebrunzer” from Looking for God’s Country by Norbert Krapf. Reprinted in
Bloodroot: Indiana Poems by Indiana University Press. Copyright © 2005. Reprinted by
permission of the author.
“The Myth of the Perfect Christmas Photo Family” by Kelsey Timmerman, originally pub-
lished on www.whereamiwearing.com. Copyright © 2015. Reprinted by permission of
the author.
“Treasure!” by Eliza Tudor, originally published in Flock. Copyright © 2019. Reprinted by
permission of the author.
Excerpt from “December” in Abe Martin’s Almanack by Kin Hubbard, published by The
Bobbs-Merrill Company. Copyright © 1908. Reprinted from public domain.
Excerpt from Beasley’s Christmas Party by Booth Tarkington, published by Harper and
Brothers. Copyright © 1909. Reprinted from public domain.
Excerpt from In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd. Copyright © 1966 by
Jean Shepherd. Used by permission of Doubleday, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday
Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved.
“While Mortals Sleep” from While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt
Vonnegut. Copyright © 2011 by The Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Trust. Used by permission of
Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House
LLC. All rights reserved.
reprinted by permission vii