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The Greatest Gift

A Christmas Tale

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About this listen

 A beautiful gift edition of the heartwarming story that became the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life.

For almost seventy years, people the world over have fallen in love with Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. But few of those fans know that Capra’s film was based on a short story by author Philip Van Doren Stern, which came to Stern in a dream one night.

Unable at first to find a publisher for his evocative tale about a man named George Pratt who ponders suicide until he receives an opportunity to see what the world would be like without him, Stern ultimately published the story in a small pamphlet and sent it out as his 1943 Christmas card. One of those 200 cards found its way into the hands of Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart, and the film that resulted became the holiday tradition we cherish today.

Now fans of It’s a Wonderful Life, or anyone who loves the spirit of Christmas, can own the story that started it all in an elegant, illustrated edition that’s perfect for holiday giving. It includes an Afterword by Stern’s daughter, Marguerite Stern Robinson, that tells the story of how her father’s Christmas card became the movie beloved by generations of people around the world. Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Winter Christmas Romance Heartfelt Short Story
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I do not normally like short stories but this one was different. The author was able to say all he had in mind to show us how we never really live only to ourselves. What we do or do not do affects the lives of so many people.
I enjoyed the narration and the added part of the author’s daughter.
“It’s A Wonderful Life”, is one of my all time favourite movies. I appreciated reading the short story that started the movie.

This is a very good short story that contains all we need to understand what the author wanted us to know.

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I saw that it was 50 mins long and there was an afterword by the author's daughter. What I didn't realise is the story (inc. intro and outro) was almost half of this book! The afterword was the majority of the book and really only about 5 mins was interesting. I expected the short story to be the majority of the book, not the minority. The performance by Herrmann was very good, but way too short. I don't recommend this book and returned it.

Not enough story

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