The Christmas Banquet: Short Story

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dec 2013 · Harper Collins

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About this ebook

Every year the ten most miserable people in town are invited to a Christmas banquet. Their misery is shared alongside the holiday feast, and every year, an increasingly wretched Gervayse Hastings makes his appearance. Over time, all the other guests seem to have grown in character and risen above their sad condition, except of course, Mr. Hastings.

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne originally subtitled this anti-Christmas tale “An Allegory of the Human Heart”. “A Christmas Banquet” might sit in stark contrast to other classics like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but it serves as a reminder that the holidays can be a time of human suffering and loneliness as well as joy and good tidings.

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About the author

Born in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his historical tales and novels about American colonial society. After publishing The Scarlet Letter in 1850, its status as an instant bestseller allowed him to earn a living as a novelist. Full of dark romanticism, psychological complexity, symbolism, and cautionary tales, his work is still popular today. He has earned a place in history as one of the most distinguished American writers of the nineteenth century.

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