The Real Festivus

A Seinfeld writer and co-creator of the unusual Festivus holiday offers a definitive guide to the celebration of Festivus, covering the complete history, customs, games, activities, party themes, trivia, and other important aspects of the cult phenomenon. Original.

A humorous guide to the wackiest holiday introduced to modern society. Festivus! The Book is an up-to-date complete reference for anyone who celebrates Festivus or plans to join the fun. Learn all about the traditions of a Seinfeld-based Festivus and witness the nuances of the original Festivus, as celebrated by the O'Keefe family. See first-hand how Festivus is celebrated by others and receive plenty of advice and tips to aid in your own Festivus party plans. What foods should be prepared? Is meatloaf preferred? Should you organize a wrestling match with your father? Are you too feeble for wrestling? What about arm wrestling or even thumb wrestling? How should you Air your Grievances? Maybe this is an opportunity to complain about Grandma's clicking dentures... You'll find great answers to all these questions, and more. "This book completes Festivus' transformation from borderline child endangerment to beloved pop-cultural footnote of the late 1990s." ~ Seinfeld Writer Dan O'Keefe

"An uproarious behind-the-scenes account of the creation of the hit television series describes how comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld dreamed up the idea for an unconventional sitcom over coffee and how, despite network skepticism and minimal plotlines, achieved mainstream success, "--NoveList.

ABOUT THE BOOK For a show about nothing, “Seinfeld” lasted quite a long time. It started in 1990, then, 172 episodes later, it had become a staple in American culture forever. Phrases like “yada, yada” and “master of my domain” are just a few things that this prolific television show left behind after a nine season run. The “puffy shirt” from the third episode in season 5 even made it into the National Museum of American History. Not bad for a 30-minute sitcom. One of the show’s more interesting contributions to our culture, though, is the holiday named Festivus. Festivus is only mentioned in one episode but has gathered quite the cult following. It is talked about, searched for, and even celebrated during the holiday season. When episode 10 of season 9 (“The Strike”) aired on December 18, 1997, nobody knew that Festivus would live have such a lasting impact. The lore behind the creation of this holiday is almost as interesting as the actual celebration. MEET THE AUTHOR Nolan grew up in South Carolina and attended the great University of South Carolina in Columbia. After graduation, he packed everything up and moved to the entertainment capital of the world: Los Angeles. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Airing of grievances Think of your last Thanksgiving celebration when you sat around the dinner table and discussed what you were thankful for. Well, Festivus has a very different feel. The Festivus dinner is a time when you can let everyone at the table know what they have done to upset you throughout the year. This takes place in an orderly fashion and starts with the head of the household. These sessions are the main things that are recorded via cassette tape. This is not something that was added to Festivus for “The Strike” -- it was a real part of the O’Keefe family Festivus celebration. Feats of strength This is the final event in the Festivus celebration. In the feats of strength, the head of the household is allowed to pick someone to wrestle with. That person must pin the head of the household or Festivus isn’t over. Jerry learns as he’s talking to George in the coffee shop, that this portion of Festivus usually ended with George crying. In “The Strike,” Kramer is initially picked to wrestle with Frank, but when Kramer decides to go back to work, saying that Festivus is “out there,” George has to step up and do it. He doesn’t want to, but Frank tells him to “stop crying and fight your father.” Buy a copy to keep reading!

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

A brand-new and revised edition of the hilarious guide to the national anti-holiday made famous by Seinfeld, complete with never-before-seen material, photos, and illustrations on how to prepare and enjoy your very own Festivus.

Jerry. George. Elaine. Kramer. We've followed their misadventures for nearly ten years on Thursday nights. Here, finally, are the scripts of the first two seasons that will take you back to the beginning of Seinfeld. Featuring the first 17 episodes ever aired, The Seinfeld Scripts contains all the great lines that have kept us laughing for years: the pilot episode, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," where it all began; George introduces his importer/exporter altar ego Art Vanderlay in "The Stakeout"; Kramer becomes obsessed with cantaloupe in "The Ex-Girlfriend"; Jerry and George meet Elaine's dad in "The Jacket"; is Jerry responsible for a poor Polish woman's death when he makes "The Pony Remark"?; Jerry and Elaine decide to become intimate again in "The Deal"; what will George do when he is banned from the executive bathroom in "The Revenge"?; and Jerry, George, and Elaine wait for a table in "The Chinese Restaurant." It's all here: the award-winning writing of Seinfeld, "the defining sitcom of our age". Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. Elaine: My roommate has Lyme disease. Jerry: Lyme disease? I thought she had Epstein-Barr syndrome? Elaine: She has this in addition to Epstein-Barr. It's like Epstein-Barr with a twist of Lyme disease. George: She calls me up at my office she says, "We have to talk." Jerry: The four worst words in the English language. Kramer: What a body. Yeeaaah...that's for me. Jerry: Yeah and you're just what she's looking for, too--a stranger, leering through a pair of binoculars ten floors up.

Christmas is not everybody’s favorite holiday. Historically, Jews in America, whether participating in or refraining from recognizing Christmas, have devised a multitude of unique strategies to respond to the holiday season. Their response is a mixed one: do we participate, try to ignore the holiday entirely, or create our own traditions and make the season an enjoyable time? This book, the first on the subject of Jews and Christmas in the United States, portrays how Jews are shaping the public and private character of Christmas by transforming December into a joyous holiday season belonging to all Americans. Creative and innovative in approaching the holiday season, these responses range from composing America’s most beloved Christmas songs, transforming Hanukkah into the Jewish Christmas, creating a national Jewish tradition of patronizing Chinese restaurants and comedy shows on Christmas Eve, volunteering at shelters and soup kitchens on Christmas Day, dressing up as Santa Claus to spread good cheer, campaigning to institute Hanukkah postal stamps, and blending holiday traditions into an interfaith hybrid celebration called “Chrismukkah” or creating a secularized holiday such as Festivus. Through these venerated traditions and alternative Christmastime rituals, Jews publicly assert and proudly proclaim their Jewish and American identities to fashion a universally shared message of joy and hope for the holiday season. See also: http://www.akosherchristmas.org