If we were having coffee today, Friday the twenty-third, I’d wish you a Happy Christmas Eve-Eve.
The day figures prominently in my novel, The Fever. In fact the entire Christmas week is a big part of the story. In the book, the day has been celebrated by several of the characters as both a Christmas celebration and the commemoration of a shared tragedy — the destruction of their old workplace by a fire-bombing. It was a bar called Trotsky’s. No one knew if it was radical right-wingers lashing out at a perceived symbol of Communism, or radical leftists intent on preserving the memory of a revered servent to the cause. Really, it was just a bar with a catchy name.
The “holiday” concept was born out of my own usage of the term when I used to host an informal get-together as a chance to celebrate with friends before they headed home for the holidays.
Ironically the day has gained some traction as “Festivus” from a Seinfeld episode. Ah, but another sitcom, New Girl, has just aired an episode about Christmas Eve-Eve. I an glad I put it in the book, so if it takes off you’ll all know where it originated.
So, Happy Christmas Eve-Eve! And also, a warm Season’s Greetings to you and yours.
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More information about Thomas Fenske’s novel THE FEVER can be found at http://thefensk.com
Scratching the Surface 