In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash

In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd
Pages: 264
(SPOILERS BELOW)

In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash is one of my husband's favorite books and it's the book that the movie A Christmas Story starring Peter Billingsley is based on. Here is how the book is set up. Our narrator, Ralph has arrived back in his hometown of Hohman, Indiana where his first stop is Flick's Tavern, run by his childhood friend and Army buddy, Flick. Once Ralph begins to talk with Flick, we get flashback stories of Ralph's childhood and teenage years. So the book is set up of a chapter, usually one to three pages of Ralph and Flick as adults talking in the bar and then a chapter of flashbacks.

I will skip the Flick and Ralph as adult chapters and lay out the flashback chapters, so you my dear reader will know what the short stories are about:
Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid: Probably the most famous story in the whole book! This is Ralphie's story of his quest, his obsession with getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
The Counterfit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message, or the Asp Strikes Again: The story of Ralphie's love of the Little Orphan Annie show and his desire to discover the secret message played at the end of each broadcast.
The Endless Streetcar Ride Into the Night, and the Tinfoil Noose: Ralph's blind date
Hairy Gertz and the Forty-Seven Crappies: Ralph goes fishing with the grownups and tries to puncture their inner-circle.
My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award That Heralded The Birth of Pop Art: Ralph's father wins a lamp shaped like a sexy woman's leg in a newspaper contest.
The Magic Mountain: The story of the Magic Mountain inside the World's Fair.
Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil: Ralph has finally had too much from a bully and fights back.
Ludlow Kissel and the Dago Bomb that Struck Back: The story of a giant firework gone wrong.
Uncle Ben and The Side-Splitting Knee-Slapper, or Some Words are Loaded: Ralph overhears his Uncle Ben telling a joke, which Ralph then repeats to a neighbor without realizing what he's truly saying.
Old Man Pulaski and the Infamous Jambreaker Blackmail Caper: Ralph lives for the black jawbreaker at the local candy story.
The Perfect Crime: Ralph scratches his dad's precious car and the blame falls on someone else.
Wilbur Duckworth and his Magic Baton: Ralph relives his time in the marching band as a sousaphone player.
Miss Bryfogel and the Frightening Case of the Speckle-Throated Cuckold: Ralph has a crush on his English teacher Miss Bryfogel and in order to impress her reads a book without realizing that it's content is inappropriate.
"Nevermore," Quoth the Assessor, "Nevermore....": The property tax assessor comes to town and cleans out a local family.
Leopold Doppler and the Great Orpheum Gravy Boat Riot: In order to raise attendance at the local movie house, the owner Leopold Doppler has a promotion where he gives away a dish set to all women who attend. But what happens when the dishes stop coming?

My thoughts: Sometimes, this book was hard to read. All I could hear and see in my head was the movie. Like Ralph's bully in the book is Grover Dill, where in the movie his name is Scott Farkus. And when I see Ralph, I see Peter Billingsley. So for me the most effective stories are the ones I hadn't heard before. I LOVED the story about the Gravy Boat Riot and the fireworks. The book is funny and poignant, heart-felt and ironic, wit and satire. 3 out of 5 stars.