A Few Quick Ones & Galahad at Blandings

by P.G. Wodehouse
Overlook Press
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The Times (London) once called Wodehouse “a brilliantly funny writer – perhaps the most consistently funny writer the English language has yet produced.” In seventy years, the man published over ninety books – the kind of comedy we don’t see much of anymore (did anyone see the film version of “Piccaddilly Jim” with Sam Rockwell?) but it’s got spunk. It’s jaunty. It’s jolly. It’s Wodehouse. Give it a try.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd
Viking
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Every English student on earth has had to read this book. Some hate it, some adore it, but these stories told by a group of pilgrims in a London Inn reveal all the comedy, tragedy and romance of the human condition. Or, at least as it was back in ye olde medieval England. For anyone who had trouble getting through Chaucer’s original volume, this new “retelling” by Peter Ackroyd (”London: The Biography”) is much more user-friendly. Imaginative illustrations by Nick Bantock are a nice touch.

Moby Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville
Foreword by Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin Classics
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One of the most famous novels in American literature, and, like most great works of fiction, there are plenty of loafers who haven’t taken the time to actually read the damn thing. So here’s your chance to call somebody out. It’s a bit thicker than a Jane Austen but not as dense as a Dostoevsky, so there’s a nice middle-ground for ya. This is for your friends who like the sea but will be stuck onshore for the winter months. Nothing like a little “Moby Dick” by the fire. And a scotch.

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

by Ron Schick
Little, Brown and Company
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Now what could be more classic than Norman Rockwell? As many of you probably know, his iconic images often came from photos which he staged. So it’s not only the full-colour paintings which would end up on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, but also the black-and-white photos here that will make many viewers yearn for that sense of Americana that only Mr. Rockwell can evoke. And for those of you in New England, you can see the tie-in touring exhibition when it launches at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts from November through May 2010.

Norman Rockwell: The Christmas Book

Abrams
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Once upon a time, before the days of Black Friday’s and Cyber Monday’s, Christmas was the holiday for getting together with family and enjoying each others’ company over a warm meal and while the children counted down the hours until Santa Claus came. It also had some sort of religious context or something, too.

While kids today maybe growing up with dreams of XBox’s instead of sugar plums, Norman Rockwell’s ‘Christmas Book‘ is here to keep us grounded. Not only are the Holiday inspired paintings/illustrations of Rockwell collected int the book but also sheet music to Christmas classics, Holiday poems and stories. There is also some religious stuff in there too, so…

Paul Newman: The Tribute Collection

Fox Home Entertainment
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In this lovely box, you’ll find 13 of Paul Newman’s most beloved films on DVD, including (and many of them as collector’s editions, to boot) “The Long, Hot Summer,” “The Hustler,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Towering Inferno” and “The Verdict.” Unfortunately the other greatest hits are not included (i.e. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Cool Hand Luke,” etc.) but there is a gorgeous 136-page book in here that will make up for that. It’s a fine tribute to one of the last century’s greatest Hollywood treasures.

The Whiffenpoofs: Century

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http://www.whiffenpoofs.com/

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to see these gents perform live, then you’d be hard-pressed to say that they’ve been around for a century. Yale’s most well-known a cappella group doesn’t change up their playlist all that often, but there’s really no need (though keep a listen for a new addition: Michael Bublé’s ‘Everything’). With arrangements of songs like ‘Down by the Salley Gardens,’ ‘New Hymn’ and ‘Midnight Train to Georgia,’ these boys have the pipes to keeps the classics fresh every time you hear their clear voices. This is the kind of stuff that gives you goosebumps.

The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Warner Home Video
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You know they mean business with these limited edition sets when they actually add numbers to the box. I’m not sure that we really need that commemorative watch, but there are some other tasty items in the here including a copy of the movie’s original shooting budget and the campaign book featuring all the kooky ads for the film when it first came out in 1939. A good choice (particularly the blu-ray edition) for your movie buff pals and family members.