On this week’s All In podcast, author Jason Wright shared the story behind his first novel, a novel that went on to become a New York Times bestseller. The fictional story, Wright explained, began because he missed his father, who passed away when Wright was 16 years old. In an effort to cheer up, Wright and his family began putting their spare change in a jar. The week before Christmas, they decided on someone who might benefit from receiving their “Christmas Jar.” Their little jar brought joy to Wright’s family and began a tradition—a tradition that led to Wright’s first novel, Christmas Jars, which has been turned into a film premiering this year.
