Showing Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present by Hank Stuever

When Stuever's narrative begins, he's standing in line with the people waiting to purchase flat-screen TVs at Best Buy on Black Friday, the opening of the Christmas shopping season. From there he follows a number of key residents of Frisco, Texas, as they navigate through the nativity and all its attendant crises: Tammy Parnell, an eternally optimistic suburban mother and proprietor of "Two Elves with a Twist," a company that decorates other people's houses for Christmas; Jeff and Bridgett Trykoski, owners of that one house every town has, the house visible from space with the brightest and most awe-inspiring Christmas decorations; and single mother and Bank of America employee Caroll Cavazos, who hopes that the life-affirming moments of Christmas might overcome the struggles of the rest of the year.

Steuver's portraits are at once humane, heartfelt, revealing - and very, very funny. Tinsel is a compelling tale of our half-trillion-dollar holiday, measuring what we've become against the ancient rituals of what we've always been.