The Autobiography of Santa Claus

Jeff Guinn is an award-winning journalist and books editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is the author of six books and lives in Fort Worth, Texas. John T. Mayer is a character actor whose voice has been heard on radio and television commercials, animated films, and television documentaries including four seasons of E! Entertainment’s Celebrity Profiles. He is a graduate of UCLA's Theater Arts Department and has spent five years with the Groundlings comedy theater company.

Where exactly did Santa Claus come from? How did he meet Mrs. Claus? Who named the reindeer? We've all asked these questions and a million more, and Jeff Guinn uses a wonderful mix of scholarship, fantasy, folklore, and faith to answer them all. According to this "authoritative" autobiography, St. Nicholas began giving gifts in the third century A.D. and never looked back. John H. Mayer's warm and leisurely reading certainly puts one in mind of the classic nineteenth-century Claus, but it's the generous sprinkling of facts that draws one in. Did you know the Roman calendar had only 10 months and 355 days and that Christmas caroling was introduced to the world in the thirteenth century? A fine way for the whole family to receive a dash of history and humor relating to holiday cheer. B.P. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine