The Greatest Gift ★★★★☆

The Greatest Gift (Click Here To Buy)

★★★★☆

The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern is a #shortstory about being #grateful for what you have. It is the short story that inspired the movie It’s A Wonderful Life.

This book is really hard to find and I accidentally got in a #biddingwar on #eBay and now I own it… #Christmas present to myself I guess lol.

George Pratt is down on his luck and contemplating jumping off a bridge when a mysterious man appears next to him. In conversation, George admits that he wishes he had never been born. The man tells him his wish is granted. George returns to town to find the bank where he works is out of business, his brother is dead, and his wife is married to someone else. George goes back to the bridge and realizes he had let go of the greatest gift of all: life.

Reading this short story made me very nostalgic for the movie and as a result I loved reading it. However, plot-wise it was wildly under-developed as compared to the movie. Fun fact: when the author wrote the story, he sent it out as his #ChristmasCard that year.

If you liked The Greatest Gift, I also recommend The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and Finna by Nino Cipri.

Happy Reading and Happy Christmas,

@ms.bjork