The Holiday Gift Guide

Gifts from A to Z

Introduction by Debra Auspitz

The Lavernes of the world never had it so good.

With an infusion of kitschy first-initial monograms on everything from the classic fuzzy sweater to purses, hats, jewelry and throw blankets, this holiday season will certainly be celebrated by the trading of many of these semi-personalized gifts. Go to any department store and watch the throngs of shoppers around the display cases, desperately tearing through piles of bags looking for the one that matches their desired color combination with the letter they identify with. I witnessed two preteen girls fighting over a leather clutch bearing the letter S. "My name begins with an S," one said. "No, mine does," was the other’s witty retort. Let’s not even get into the inner turmoil this has caused for the Zenias, Xanders and Quiaras of the world. At least the one-letter monogram avoids the pain and suffering caused by mass-produced items bearing full names that refuse to acknowledge differing spellings -- suffering for, say, those of us who insist there’s no frickin’ O or H in Debra.

If all of this initial-branding is a little too schlemiel-schlimazel for you, we at City Paper are offering another version of letter-themed gifts. Our staffers went around the city and selected 26 presents, one for each letter of the alphabet. You'll find everything from holiday favorites with a twist (E may be for earrings, but we picked out earrings featuring pin-up girl Betty Page) to stuff you probably never thought was present material (V is for veterinary services).

This year's Holiday Gift Guide also features our Holiday Book Quarterly -- and really, what makes more sense to follow an alphabet lesson than some more advanced reading? Arts and books editor Lori Hill has put together a great selection of reviews of fiction, nonfiction and kids books, since we all know you're gonna end up getting a book for at least one person on your list. We also take a look at some particularly gifty books, the ones that you might not ever actually read, but they look good on your coffee table.

To complete the package, we've got the latest news on tech-related gifts, from cell phones to iPods to TiVo, and some newly released DVD and CD box sets that would make perfect presents.

We've done the bulk of the legwork for you -- now you just have to flip through the issue and decide what you want to go out and buy. With our help, your holiday shopping should be as easy as never mind.