Although I could probably finish the remaining stories in this book before New Year's Day, I'm pausing it for next Christmas, as the last story I finished was quite offputting, and I'll need 12 months to get the taste of it out of my mouth. John Cheever's "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" is one of the most cynical and unempathetic things I've ever read; the sentiment upon which neoliberal social policies are written ?