How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
12/1957 AD published
Dr. Seuss claimed he was the inspiration for the character, as his wife's health problems and his dismay with the commercialization of Christmas made him feel "very Grinchish" as he looked in the mirror one year on December 26.
Dr. Seuss wrote the book quickly and was mostly finished with it within a few weeks.
Biographers Judith and Neil Morgan wrote, "It was the easiest book of his career to write, except for its conclusion." According to Dr. Seuss:
I got hung up getting the Grinch out of the mess. I got into a situation where I sounded like a second-rate preacher or some biblical truism... Finally in desperation... without making any statement whatever, I showed the Grinch and the Whos together at the table, and made a pun of the Grinch carving the 'roast beast.' ... I had gone through thousands of religious choices, and then after three months it came out like that.
By mid-May 1957, the book was finished and in the mail to the Random House offices in New York. In June, Dr. Seuss and Helen took a month-long vacation to Hawaii, where he checked and returned the book's galley proof.
The book debuted in both a book version published by Random House and in an issue of Redbook.
Dr. Seuss dedicated the book to Theodor "Teddy" Owens, the one-year-old son of his niece, Peggy Owens.
Lattitude: 32.84° N
Longitude: 117.2769° W
Region: North America

Modern Day United States
Subjects Who or What published?
-
Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) Author of more than 60 c...
Objects To Whom or What was published?
-
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Grinch, a grouchy, c...
Timelines (that include this event)
Events in 1957 MORE







