"Valuable biography"—The New Yorker

Although Vince Guaraldi’s playful jazz piano themes for the early Peanuts animated television specials are well known, the composer himself remains largely unheralded. Throughout, this welcome volume conveys the magic and legacy of one of jazz music’s overlooked treasures.

"Career is exhaustively reconstructed...definitive" —All About Jazz

“A phenomenal gift from the author to us: it is a loving tribute to the man and his music, one that seeks to place Guaraldi at the musical shrine he so deserves...labor of scholarly love offers a supreme example of professional expertise and literary virtuosity. The value cannot be underestimated”—ARSC Journal

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Jolly Elves with Hearty Beards

That special time of year is approaching…the time when many of us would wake up early to see what a holiday gift-giver with a hearty beard brought. You might have called him Santa Claus, Father Christmas, or perhaps even Saint Nick. If not, maybe your Decembers were spent avoiding the disapproval of 13 Yule Lads? (Shoes filled with rotting potatoes sounds so much worse than a lump of coal in a stocking, though not quite as terrifying as being carted off by Krampus!)

These are just a few of a very wide range of enduring traditions of Christmas and other midwinter holidays. Whether your interest is cartoon television specials, Victorian literature, an Epiphany, mistletoe, holly, carols, or jolly elves with hearty beards, McFarland has a book for you. Through January 6, get 20% off these books with coupon code MIDWINTER19.

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