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EW review: 'Santa Lives!' perfect for the cynic

Also: Brilliantly droll 'Every Person'

By Whitney Pastorek
Entertainment Weekly

(Entertainment Weekly) -- More than a half century ago in his book "Mere Christianity," C.S. Lewis affirmed his place as one of the world's great religious thinkers by making a case for God's existence.

Now former Spy writer and self-proclaimed ''santologist'' Ellis Weiner sets out to do the same for Kriss Kringle in "Santa Lives!", a merrily eccentric volume, jam-packed with philosophical principles as varied as Occam's razor (the simplest explanation is usually best) and the Argument from Truism (it involves Dean Martin lyrics). Perfect for the cynic on your list.

EW Grade: A

Every Person on the Planet

Reviewed by Jessica Shaw

Bruce Eric Kaplan, a New Yorker cartoonist and former "Six Feet Under" writer, taps into the dread of throwing holiday parties in "Every Person on the Planet," a self-illustrated quick read he calls ''an only somewhat anxiety-filled tale for the holidays.'' From the out-of-hand guest list (all 6.3 billion members of the world population get invites ... though only eight RSVP) to the Australians who close the party down, Kaplan's brilliantly droll story will bring a smile to even the scroogiest among us.

EW Grade: A

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