[Fresh Wind]

The book’s much better than the movie anyway.

“In God We Trust-All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd

It’s really a collection of short stories, but all the episodes in the movie are there in greater detail.

Much more about Shep here:

http://216.117.144.74/

[Charles Henrickson]

Has anyone read or heard Jean Shepherd’s other work? Any recommend place to begin? He was the one who wrote the stories and narrated.

“In God We Trust-All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd

I've got that book on the nightstand right now, as a matter of fact.

Even before the movie came out, I was a huge Shep fan. His radio show used to be carried in Chicago in the '70s and I would listen to it. Then his book, "In God We Trust," was made into a couple of TV productions, "Phantom of the Open Hearth" and "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters" (carried on PBS, I think). Then came the theatrical movie, "A Christmas Story."

More on Shep here:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0791789

http://www.flicklives.com

Some of Shep's radio broadcasts are available on the Net and on disc sets. He was a great storyteller.

BTW, Jean Shepherd himself has an on-screen cameo in "A Christmas Story," as a guy standing in line at the department store: