New Christmas Book by Geoffrey Philp

For those of you who are thinking about an ideal Christmas gift, especially for book lovers, Jamaican writer, Geoffrey Philp's Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas, is available in bookstores nationwide, online at Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and many independent book stores.

Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas explores the meaning of the holy days through the lives of characters who are as near to us as our breath, and whose struggles with faith, doubt, and redemption, are as real as our own. Emphasizing the humanity of its biblical and contemporary characters, the poems depict Mary and Joseph as a newlywed couple on a journey to their ancestral homeland where they are to be registered in a census decreed by a Roman tyrant. As they travel through the harsh landscape, they are joined by strangers who have been summoned by dreams, visions, and supernatural events to bear witness to a child whose birth they are told is destined to change the course of human history. “A Story for Christmas,” which is set in Miami, describes the plight of Raymond Allen, a despairing musician and family man, who wrestles with his pride that is both the source of his sorrow and redemption. “I’ve always wanted to write a quiet, meditative book,” said Philp, author of Benjamin, My Son, “that would give my friends (and some strangers) a taste of what I have sometimes experienced—fleetingly—but nonetheless realized—a moment of peace. And because I’ve always believed that a book was/is the best present I could ever give or receive, it’s my permanent Christmas gift.” Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas explores the meaning of the holy days through the lives of characters who are as near to us as our breath, and whose struggles with faith, doubt, and redemption, are as real as our own. Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas by Geoffrey Philp Trade Paperback Original: $9.95 ISBN: 978-0-595-36887-7 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Geoffrey Philp is the author of Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas and the novel, Benjamin, My Son. His poems and short stories have appeared in The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse and The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. He lives in Miami, Florida. Author website: www.geoffreyphilp.com