The Merry, Merry Christmas by Evan Hunter

Originally published 1957 in Manhunt; this edition 1995

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Collected in: Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories (ed. Bill Pronzini & Jack Adrian)

M

Not recommended for persons under 15 years of age, but no legal restrictions

(D, L, V)

Drug Use {PG} {alcohol}

Coarse Language {M} {homophobic and misogynistic slurs used as calculated taunts}

Violence {M}

Representations

Gender:

No women present. Stereotyped aggressive protectiveness of men toward the good name of their mothers used as a weapon.

Sex:

One character accuses another of being queer in a hostile, suspicious response unwanted generosity. Homophobia used as tool of provocation and to express dislike.

Race & Ethnicity:

No mention; characters apparently white + US citizens.

Disability, Physical Diversity and Health:

Victim dismissed by witness, murderer, and officer on the scene as a nut.

Awards

None found.

Notes

Another story of the impersonal injustice of violence, found it more strikingly crafted than many of the others. An apparently perfect murder committed motivated by irritation with the victim, with speech used as the weapon as much as any physical violence.