In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash

· Sold by Crown
24 reviews
Ebook
272
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About this ebook

A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories—the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas Story

Before Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean Shepherd: a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immensely resonant—and utterly hilarious—works of comic art. In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement, a compound of irony, affection, and perfect detail that speaks across generations.

In God We Trust, Shepherd's wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage “You can never go back.” Bending the ear of Flick, his childhood-buddy-turned-bartender, Shepherd recalls passionately his genuine Red Ryder BB gun, confesses adolescent failure in the arms of Junie Jo Prewitt, and relives a story of man against fish that not even Hemingway could rival. From pop art to the World's Fair, Shepherd's subjects speak with a universal irony and are deeply and unabashedly grounded in American Midwestern life, together rendering a wonderfully nostalgic impression of a more innocent era when life was good, fun was clean, and station wagons roamed the earth.

A comic genius who bridged the gap between James Thurber and David Sedaris, Shepherd may have accomplished for Holden, Indiana, what Mark Twain did for Hannibal, Missouri.
A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories—the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas Story Before Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean Shepherd: a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immense...

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Ratings and reviews

24 reviews
Constance K
December 19, 2025
My favorite book to read during the holidays. Its "A Christmas Story" but multiplied by 100. If you are a fan of "A Christmas Story", you will love reading the rest of "Ralphie Parkers" life in all 4 seasons. Jean had a way of writing in a way that feels like you are reading an old friends letter to you updating you with his life and thoughts and memories and humor along the way. Don't buy the short CHAPTER they sell of "A Christmas Story" as its in this novel, as a couple chapters plus more
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Ricky Kimsey
November 21, 2024
Bought this because I love the movie A Christmas Story and discovered that three chapters formed the basis of the movie. The other parts are just as good and worth reading.
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Timothy Mathis
January 3, 2018
It was a great book! Loved the movie and enjoyed the stories that were not in the movie. I may need to make this a yearly read.
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About the author

For many years a cult radio and cabaret personality in New York City, Jean Shepherd was the creator of the popular film A Christmas Story, which is based on his novels In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, and which has become a holiday tradition on the Turner Network. Jean Shepherd passed away in 1999.
For many years a cult radio and cabaret personality in New York City, Jean Shepherd was the creator of the popular film A Christmas Story, which is based on his novels In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, and which has become a holiday tradition on the...

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