The Autobiography of Santa Claus is a 1994 fiction book by Jeff Guinn. Guinn does a preface as if he was the editor, with the rest of the book written as if Nicholas, better known as Santa Claus, relates the story of his life. Throughout the novel Nicholas relates how he came to be, all the people he met, and all the ways he affected Christmas and how he saw others affect Christmas as well.
There would eventually be two sequels: How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas and The Great Santa Search.
The Autobiography of Santa Claus provides examples of:
- Been There, Shaped History: Nicholas had a hand in the creation of A Christmas Carol and Silent Night, and accidentally gave George Washington the idea for attacking the Hessians during Christmas.
- Dead Man Writing: In How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, Layla is in danger of arrest and possible execution, so before attempting escape she writes a letter to Nicholas saying how much she loves and admires him and thanking him for treating her as an equal partner in gift-giving. She doesn't tell him she may be dead when he reads the letter (and in fact she does survive), but she herself is aware of it and writes her heartfelt message with that in mind.
- Foregone Conclusion: Layla and Arthur will survive the events of How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas, since both the book's own foreword and The Autobiography of Santa Claus establish that they survived to the present day. It's the fate of the other characters that is in question— especially Sara, who the foreword hints may not have survived. She does, but since she doesn't join Layla and the other gift-givers, she ages normally and by the present day she's long since passed away.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Where else are you going to find Attila the Hun portrayed as a very nice person.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The Puritans look like the most miserable, dour people in existence, and their hatred of Christmas makes them villains. It gets even worse in the sequel, where Mrs. Claus has even more dealings with them.
- How Can Santa Deliver All Those Toys?: it established that while Santa has superspeed while gift giving, he has several helpers, including historical figures such as Attila the Hun and Theodore Roosevelt, dress as him to make sure all the toys are distributed.
- Leaving Food for Santa: Nicholas mentions what he'd love to really have instead of milk & cookies sometime, but then clarifies that he is still satisfied with the traditional offerings.
- Mistaken for Thief: When they first meet, Nicholas and Layla the future Mrs. Claus think the other one is trying to steal from the house they were individually trying to give gifts to.
- Mrs. Claus: Layla and Nicholas stumble upon each other one night, and once Nicholas becomes better known as Santa Claus, Layla becomes Mrs. Claus. In the first sequel she is the central character instead of Santa.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Nicholas hesitates when proposing to Layla because he's unsure whether she will stop aging (as he and Felix have) if she joins him— he hates to think of living on long after losing her. Layla tells him not to worry about it (although How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas reveals that she did keep an eye on her appearance until she was sure she had stopped aging).
- P.O.V. Sequel: How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas is from Layla's point of view, covering her childhood and repeating the story of her meeting and marrying Nicholas before focusing on the time she spent in Britain without Nicholas (when he was in America with Felix).
- Pseudo-Santa: While Nicholas does do gift giving, throughout the years he gains helpers to dispense the gifts, which include King Arthur, Leonardo di Vinci, Theodore Roosevelt, and even Attila the Hun.
- Santa Claus: Naturally.
- Santa's Existence Clause: After Francis Church writes his "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" response to a little girl's letter asking if Santa exists, Santa leaves Church a special gift and a signed thank you note. (In this case, Church does believe in Santa. It's Virginia's father who doesn't but tells her to write the letter rather than disappoint her. Santa points out that the father should have noticed his child receiving extra gifts, but speculates that maybe he didn't notice because Virginia's mother does all the gift shopping.)
- Subbing for Santa: In the novel, Santa doesn't go around to every house in the world; he has a bunch of helpers, some of them historical individuals who became immortal by becoming his helpers, who dress as him. They each have their own designated area of gift-giving.
- War Is Hell: Nicholas frequently rails against war and how bad it is.
