Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes Paperback – November 23, 2011

In this tale, Santa and his holy brood become disgusted at the hatred and violence being perpetrated, in the name of the sacred, upon those born with homosexual proclivities, and they decide to take action. To go into any real detail would rob you of the book's many, many pleasures, but rest assured it's a rousing story, masterfully told, full of wit and wisdom, and consistently moving.This book isn't nearly as profane and transgressive as the Devereaux's first Santa tale, SANTA STEPS OUT(and may therefore be an easier read for those with tender sensibilities), but it is full of notions that challenge the status quo in forthright and rich ways. Poppy Z. Brite said about the first book "The only two rules in SANTA STEPS OUT are that everything is sacred and nothing is sacred," and that is absolutely true about both books. They boldly rip apart the things civilized folk consider proper and sacred, but at the same time wholeheartedly embrace that which is truly sacred, both in the religious sense and the humanistic.Devereaux is a wonderful writer, and constantly amazes with his inventiveness. His treatment of what you might call the mechanics of wonder, the way magic actually works in his literary world, is earthy in its matter-of-factness and lovely in its effects. His characters are full-bodied and layered, his depiction of the sacred both accessible and transcendent, and his allowance for redemption for any and all entities, no matter how saddled by personal weakness they may be, is more truly spiritual than any boxset of Touched By An Angel could ever be.SANTA STEPS OUT and SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES are masterworks of fantasy and sacred fictions. Devereaux has crafted a literary universe unlike anything else on the shelves, and it's a universe I'll revisit any chance I get.

After reading Santa Steps Out, I couldn't wait for this sequel. Santa Steps Out was so shocking, so utterly ridiculous in a crazy yet good way, that you finished it and realized there could never again be anything quite like it. This sequel proves it - nothing can live up to the original, and this book unfortunately doesn't even come close.All of the shock value is simply... gone. You wouldn't even think this book was written by the same author. The characters are all cleaned up and none of the original debauchery appears anywhere in this book.The book opens in a very awkward way - the characters constantly wander off by themselves and have these odd little monologues as they try to make decisions about what they should do. They don't come to life at all like they did in the first one. The characters in this book are incredibly one-dimensional. I enjoyed the struggles of Santa with his Pan side in the first one, you really felt bad for the crazy old guy. In this book, there just isn't any depth like that, even though a good portion of the book talks about the Greek mythology sides of the main characters.This ultimately settles down into a more natural rhythm about 10% of the way through the book, and then you realize the intent of this book... it is a long essay on the evils/dangers of prejudice. I like a good message in a book - and this one does have a good message. One of the most notable lines says something to the effect of "who are we to inform God which of his creations are acceptable and which are not". It'll make you think, but instead of subtly hiding the message in the book, its all the characters talk about.About halfway through the book, you'll be like "I get it, I understand your message, quit repeating it and quit rephrasing it over and over and over". The story suffers because it feels like the author just keeps thinking the point needs to be made again and again and again. The crazy messes Santa and his family/friends got into in the first one just don't appear anywhere in here.The creepy Easter bunny is gone (he's in the story, but he's so terribly boring that I'm no longer scared of him like I was in the first book). The crazy Tooth Fairy plays a central role, but never really does anything exciting. She just sits on her beach and broods and talks to her offspring. The offspring appeared at the end of the first book, but they never do anything exciting in this one.... as I said earlier, no depth.The book ends about 85% of the way through (I noted that on my Kindle - sorry, don't know page numbers in the real book). Then you are left with 15% of a book that simply restates the underlying message over and over and over yet again. I almost quit reading it once I got there, but I muddled through it, expecting a shocking final crazy something to happen, but was disappointed yet again.From reading the afterword in Santa Steps Out, I know the author had issues getting a publisher for it. That might explain the changes in this book. Just don't come into this book expecting it to be anything like the first one.On a positive note, the Kindle edition is very well done. I didn't find any typos, and the formatting is in good shape.

I absolutely loved this book as much as I love the first, though they definitely had different vibes. I mean, with the book's title it's pretty clear there's going to be a lot of talk of homosexuality and acceptance so if you've got a problem following that theme through the book it's probably not the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished it were longer. I thought the characters remained in-character and felt like the progression was natural. Being LGBT+ myself I was excited to find this book, I grew up in a highly conservative area in the midwest and in general have a sour taste in my mouth re: christmas and christianity so this was a nice, screwed up holiday book for me c:

The sequal to "Santa Steps Out" isn't nearly as entertaining as its predecessor. However, the story progression is worth a read through. To be fair, I could've lived without reading it too, but in no way did it detract from my love of "Santa Steps Out".

While Santa Steps Out was absolutely my favourite by Robert Devereaux, this book was also great. The sad story of the young outcast actually made me cry. And let me tell you I am not one to cry, but Robert Devereaux has a way to touch a reader. Tears were streaming down my face. I enjoyed this book so much. I also recommend Santa Steps Out, that book was the very best work of the writer.

After reading Santa Steps Out (and re-reading it 2 more times) I was looking forward to the next installment of this story line. I was thrilled when it was finally released and started reading it as soon as it arrived. As I finished each chapter my excitement was replaced by more and more disappointment.If this was written by Mr. Devereaux, I can only assume he was told to tone the story line down or that it was toned down for him by editors. If you really enjoyed Santa Steps Out, just read it again and assume it is the end of the story line. The playfulness and spark are missing in this sequel. I kind of felt like I was being preached to at times.In short... get SANTA STEPS OUT instead, it is awesomely perverted and fun.