2007 Holiday Gift Guide

There are holidays to visit the Bentley dealer, but this doesn't feel like oneof them. For all but the top half-percent, the dominant vibe this season iscaution and frugality. The hot gift, I read, is large, flat-screen TVs.Runner-ups: iPods, cell phones and jewelry. And then,I guess, the gift cliche: sweaters.

Not exactly a list that makes you think, "Wow, thoseitems will show my loved ones exactly how I feel about them."

So ... what to give?

Kits.

A kit is "a collection of articles usually for personal use" -- emphasis on personal.That means you couldn't give the collection you create for cynical Uncle Jerometo Aunt Mary, the family Pollyanna. But it also means personal on thegiver's end; the collection expresses your taste, knowledge and wit.

Happily, culture is still so affordable you can tie a bow around a decent stackof books, music and movies and the occasional gadget. With that in mind, I'vecreated a list that marries genres -- and, I hope, suggestsmatches appropriate to your family and friends.

These categories are arbitrary. Feel free to mix and match, or create kits ofyour own. And feel good about shopping online and massively shrinking yourcarbon footprint. At the bottom, I've listed a few favorite causes; it's my hope you'll include a donation, however small, with each kit you give. It is, after all, the season ...

Seasonal
Christmas with the Tallis Scholars: The world's premier choral group in a selection of Renaissance chants, motets, carols and hymns.
Vivaldi: If you're sick to death of "The Four Seasons," thislovely choral music will make you rethink Vivaldi.

Coffee Table Stunners
Derry Moore: The Architectural Digest photographer takes you into hisfavorite rooms.
BunkerSpreckels:Surfing's Divine Prince of Decadence: Clark Gable's stepson was a brilliantsurfer and a troubled soul.

Armchair Adventure
MediterraneanSummer: On a trillionaire'syacht, as told by an observant chef. With recipes.
The ExtraordinaryAdventures of Arsene Lupin: In these classic French stories, a "gentleman burglar"commits such elegant crimes you wouldn't dream of rooting for thecops.
SirEdmund Hillary: From the plains of Australia to the peak of Name Everest,and beyond.
We DieAlone: One of World WorldII's most thrilling -- and littleknown -- stories of espionage, betrayal and escape.

The Adventuress
The Wilder Shores of Love:Four 19th century women defied convention and went off to make fresh starts inNorth Africa and the Middle East.
Eat,Pray, Love: After a rough divorce,Elizabeth Gilbert traveled the globe to find herself-- and did.
TheDiana Chronicles: Tina Brown delivers astunning biography of the virgin bride who became a world-class problem for theEnglish royal family.

Inspiration
AndThere Was Light: He went blind as a child,but that didn't stop him from becoming an important Resistance leader in WorldWar II.
Pema Chodron: The woman who has become the best-known Buddhist thinkerin Americacuts through the theory to make the case for meditation.

For Children
The Snowman: Anexquisite animated film with a song that takes even a kid's breath away.
Laurie Berkner: Compared to Raffi, she's The Beatles.
Magna-Tiles: The child makes architecture and learproportion, you get blessed silence -- a win-win.
The Adventuresof Polo: A story told in pictures so achild can "read" it to you.
FancyNancy: Eloise for the post-millennialchild.
Roald Dahl: Giant peaches, glass elevators,chocolate factories and a fantastic fox.

For Animal Lovers
Dreamingin Libro: How afeminist writer fell for a mutt, and how that "good dog tamed a bad woman."
DeborahButterfield: She builds large, sculpturalhorses that feel real.

For Young Career Women
BasicBlack: The president of Hearst Magazinestells young women how the world really works.
The BigSister's Guide to the World of Work: Twooffice veterans explain the office.
The Quality of Life Report:A junior TV producer decides to do a segment from the Midwest,with comic results.

For Manly Men
Johnny U: A meat-and-spuds biography of Johnny Unitas,quarterback for the Baltimore Colts and legendary tough guy.
Younger NextYear: At 80, you can feel like 50. Youjust have to lift a lot of steel.
WithoutLimits: A film bio of Steve Prefontaine, the James Dean of American track.
TheLife and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid:Bill Bryson's hysterically funny -- and very misspent -- youth.

Green Holiday
SIGGWater Bottles: Because drinking from plasticbottles that don't get recycled is sooo 2004.
PURWater Filters: Because buying water iseven more retro.
TheOmnivore's Dilemma: The book thatexplains, better than any other, why "industrial food" is to be avoided.
Real Food: The book that tells you what to eat after you've forsakenindustrial food.

Virtual Meals for Food Lovers
Between Meals: A.J. Liebling's classic account of his culinary education in France in theearly 1930s.
Life Is Meals: Kay andJames Salter -- he could be our great living short story writer and novelist-- recall glorious evenings.
My Lifein France: Julia Child's smart,unfailingly candid memoir.

Drink Up
The Joyof Drinking: The history of alcohol,served with a twist.
Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine: Sensible advice, without a touch of oak or a hint oflicorice.
Hemingway& Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers: What the legends drank, and their outrageous drinkingstories.

Deep Thoughts
Banker to thePoor: Nobel Peace Price Laureate Muhammad Yunus explains how micro-credit can lift the poor.
TheShock Doctrine: Naomi Klein indicts thelatest version of capitalism.
DeepEconomy: Bill McKibbenlooks into the future and finds hope in the place where you live.
Platoand a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Philosophyexplained through jokes, many of them actually funny.

For the Cynic
A JohnWaters Christmas: The sickodirector's favorite holiday hits: "Santa Is a Black Man", "Here Comes FattyClaus" and (of course) The Chipmunks.
Bill Hicks: This comedian lived on bile, thenshared it. Sample: "Let's lighten things up and talk about abortion, shall we?"
Harold& Kumar Go to White Castle: If Cheech & Chong were youngprofessionals, stoned and desperate for Sliders ...
Life'sLittle Annoyances: True Tales of People Who Just Can't Take It Anymore: When the little guy fights back -- or just acts out.

For Cooks
TwoMeatballs in the Italian Kitchen: Twonoted New Yorkchefs serve up family cooking, with every recipe something you might actuallywant to make.
CookWhat You Love: The proprietors of arestaurant on Anguilla offer recipes thatexplain why people fly to the island just for dinner.

For Francophiles
Quiet Corners of Paris:Can you be alone in beautiful parks and streets? In Paris, yes.
Pudlo Paris: where toeat, and why.
Provence A-Z: Peter Mayle tells you all heheld back in previous books.

Hot Stuff
SimplePassion: She lives to wait for her lover,who comes and goes.
TheGarden of Eden: Hemingway, of all people,wrote a dirty book about a honeymoon that goes wrong.
Mating in Captivity: A therapist suggests that eroticdistance, not talking, may cure the bedroom blahs.
ASport and a Pastime: James Salter'selegant novel about a young Yale grad's affair with a small town girl in rural France.

Thrillers/Mysteries
IdentityTheory: Fast-paced, grown-up, politicallyastute -- and damned exciting.  
TheKiller Inside Me:A crazed killer tells his story, and, in the process, drives you crazy.
GetCarter: Young Michael Cainein an unrelenting tough role. Be very afraid.

Gadgets
Altec Lansing Speaker System for iPods: Small,powerful, clear, and it runs on electric current or batteries.
Shure E3c Stereo Headphones for iPods: Like being in the recording studio.

The Gift of Laughter
Mitch Hedberg: "When someonehands you a flyer, it's like he's saying, 'Here, you throw this away.'"
EddieIzzard: "They say 'Guns don't killpeople, people kill people.' Yes, but guns help."
BillyConnolly: "I'm in my 50s -- the prostatetime of life." [All other quotations are profane.]

Boomer Music
JohnFogerty: He's a62-year-old grandfather, but this CD rocks like vintage Creedence. 
Robert Plant/AlisonKrauss: The voice of Led Zeppelin meetsthe queen of bluegrass. The result is surprising, spooky, beautiful.
Mark Knopfler: Yet anotherthoughtful, complex CD from the master of guitar cool. 
TheTraveling Wilburys:The classic songs by the ultimate super-group (Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, GeorgeHarrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne) are finally back incirculation, with a delightful bonus DVD.

The New Breed
Josh Ritter: "The AnimalYears" was my favorite CD of 2007. With "Historical Conquests", the 30-year-oldsinger-songwriter has done it again.
Brandi Carlile: If JanisJoplin could have hit the notes as written, she'd have sounded like this.
TeddyThompson: The prodigiously talented son ofrock royalty has made a terrific one-off of ... country-western classics.
Eddie Vedder: The Pearl Jamleader's songs for "Into the Wild" go beyond music; these sounds pierce thesoul.

Esoterica
PaoloConte: The ultimate European saloonsinger, drink in hand and cigarette burning.
Andy Palacio& the Garifuna Collective: These Belizemusicians sing in a nearly extinct language, but their beat is infectious anduniversal.
Noirin Ni Riain: An Irish treasure with a "voice from a cloud" -- and thebeauty is indeed otherworldly.
Jim White: Midnight trains in the South, mysterious women andatmosphere that won't quit.

Family Viewing
LocalHero: A heartless oil executive goes to Scotland to buya town. Magic ensues. As does a flawless Mark Knopflersoundtrack.
TheCastle: An Australian simpleton is aboutto lose his house. But maybe simple is best when it's time to stand up for yourrights. Contains some cursing.

Modern Masterpieces
After the Wedding: ThisDanish film provides a major emotional wrench -- and surprising joy.
McCabe& Mrs. Miller: Julie Christie andWarren Beatty star in Robert Altman's unlikely Western, with moody songs byLeonard Cohen.
TheConformist: Bertolucci'smost artful film connects Italian fascism and decadence.

Classic Movies
Dodsworth: He's rich,she cheats and no one gets "blamed" in one of William Wyler's best films.
ItShould Happen to You: Judy Holliday andJack Lemmon in George Cukor's comedy about getting famous in New York
LoveMe Tonight: a romp of a '30s comedy in which the songs advance the wonderfullyabsurd plot.

Charities
Kiva.org: You don't make a donation, you invest in a small businessin a remote corner of the planet -- and you get repaid, with thanks.
The Heifer Project: Youknow the saying: "If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if you teachhim how to fish, he eats for a lifetime." Well, here you can buy an animal fora poor, rural family.
WorldWildlife Fund: Give $50,get three bracelets handmade from acai seeds in theAmazon.
Share Our Strength: Themost efficient anti-hunger cause I know of.

Jesse Kornbluth is a New York-based journalist and founder of Head Butler.com, a cultural concierge site and free daily e-mail featuring information on new and classic books, movies and music.

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