Carlo Devito – författare

Inventing Scrooge uncovers the real-life inspirations from Charles Dickens'' own world that led to the fascinating creation of his most beloved tale: A Christmas Carol.

When Charles Dickens created the story that would become A Christmas Carol, little did he know that his ghostly little book would reinvent the way we celebrate Christmas. From a graveyard in Edinburgh to the Marshalsea Prison in London to his schoolboy years in Chatham and even his lifelong fascination with dance, so much of Dickens'' past and present are woven into the characters and themes of A Christmas Carol. And by understanding the story behind the story, readers will come to embrace the holiday classic all the more. To this day, we look to the Christmas season as a time of warmth and celebration among family, friends, and strangers alike. And every year at Christmastime, not only do our lives get better for all the festivity, but we get better, as people. Just like Ebenezer Scrooge.

Filled with the remarkable wit and humor of America''s favorite storyteller, A Mark Twain Christmas gives readers insight into Twain''s life through little known stories about how he and his family celebrated this treasured holiday.

If my boot should leave a stain on the marble…leave it there always in memory of my visit…and let it remind you to be a good little girl. When Market Twain penned this enchanting letter from Your loving Santa Claus to his daughter Susy in 1875, a holiday tradition was born inside the Twain family home. And while Twain is celebrated as the sharpest satirist in American letters, he always had a soft spot for Christmas. A Mark Twain Christmas is in turns charming, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, and it ultimately reaffirms the magic of the Christmas spirit. Looking in on three holiday seasons with Twain, we learn more about the man than we ever knew before, and we discover fascinations from gifted elephants to burglar letters to Santa''s bootprints. But most of all, we regain an understanding of what is most important in our own lives, and that is the greatest gift of the Christmas season.

In this revealing biography, the exhaustive research of acclaimed sports historian Carlo DeVito sheds new light on football coaching legend Bill Parcells, exposing the two-time Super Bowl–winning coach''s moxie and lifelong dedication to football. The book digs deep into Bill Parcells'' past to unlock the secrets of what made him who he is today, following him from his childhood, through 15 years of college coaching, to his first big chance in the pros and the year that almost broke him. With more than 3,000 interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, and scores of primary resources, DeVito''s book brings Parcells to life as readers have never seen him before.