Leaving Small's Hotel by Eric Kraft


Leaving Small's Hotel
Title : Leaving Small's Hotel
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0312206607
ISBN-10 : 9780312206604
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 352
Publication : First published January 1, 1998

With this, his seventh novel, Eric Kraft once again gives readers and critics everywhere a reason to Kirkus declared it "one of the most delightful novels of the decade," while Publishers Weekly asked, "Is there a more beguiling writer today than Eric Kraft?" Small's Hotel is where Peter and Albertine Leroy have spent their lives, hosting visitors while Peter works on his memoirs. But as guests grow harder to come by the future of the hotel--and of every gift Peter ever dreamed of giving his wife--is in jeopardy. What he does to save his marriage is a story involving friendship, childhood, gadgets, and great, abiding love.

Leaving Small's Hotel Reviews

  • William

    A distinctive novel in format, and an interesting, enjoyable book for the most part. Each chapter contains a part of three story threads -- a young boy's relationship with his neighborhood, a radio show with a ventriloquist and his dummy, and the struggle by a couple to maintain a small inn on an island off the south short of New York's Long Island.

    The most engaging of the stories is the one about the hotel, and the touching relationship between Peter and Albertine, the married couple who own and run it. The bit with the dummy gets a bit old and repetitious, and the story of the younger version of Peter has its ups and downs (strong in the beginning and the end, but tedious in the middle with its preoccupation with a machine to detect the presence of flying saucers.)

    The cast of characters in the hotel is fun, but it gets rather large and not all of them come through clearly. There are bits of wit here and there which made me smile. I also enjoyed many cultural references to the 1969's (if I remember correctly) and to literature and old advertising slogans.

    I admire Kraft's creativity, and found the story overall had a freshness I enjoyed. It could have been pared down a bit, though, since it drags in places, though it is still well worth reading.

    Warning: don't read this on a Kindle. There are a number of pictures/drawings inserted which were not discernible on the device, and looked like they might have been fun.

  • Milt

    polyphrenic depictions

  • Susan Sepples

    I loved this book--- The complicated cast of characters---the living in his memories, the memoir (sweet and nostalgic and funny) and the idea of inhabiting the many aspects of oneself (current and former side by side), and his true love for his wife--- It will stick with me--- and it does make you want a garret room to write a novel in. I am looking up other Eric Kraft books.

  • Nancie Lafferty

    Eric Kraft's books are delightful and familiar. One day I will re-read them all.