Leaving Small's Hotel

The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy #7

by Eric Kraft

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.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Eric Kraft grew up in Babylon, New York, on the South Shore of Long Island, where he was for a time co-owner and co-captain of a clam boat, which sank. He met or invented the character Peter Leroy while dozing over a German lesson during his first year at Harvard. The following year, he married his muse, Madeline Canning; they have two sons. After earning a Master’s Degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Kraft taught school in the Boston area for a while, moonlighting as a rock music critic for the Boston Phoenix. Since then, he has undertaken a variety of hackwork to support the Kraft ménage and the writing of the voluminous work of fiction that he calls The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy. He has been the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts; was, briefly, chairman of PEN New England; and has been awarded the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

polyphrenic depictions

[Susan Sepples · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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