Inflating a Dog: The Story of Ella's Lunch Launch

The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy #8

by Eric Kraft, Peter Leroy (Preface by)

Ella Leroy dreams of escaping the dreary routine of her 1950s wife-and-mom life. Without telling her husband, she enlists her son Peter and his locally notorious girlfriend Patti in a to buy a run-down clamboat and reinvent it as an elegant cruising vessel for summer people in the beach town of Babbington, Long Island. But after Arcinella is purchased, Peter discovers that it is slowly sinking—and so each night he sneaks from his home to the harborfront, where he pumps the boat dry and so inflates his mother’s hopes a bit longer.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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

[CMT-Michigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit that this book captured my attention based on the title alone. When staring at a bookshelf with hundreds of books and nothing specific in mind, it seems to be the book cover or the title that draws one in.

Peter is thirteen and it's the 1950s. His mother, Ella, has just failed at another one of her great ideas for a business. Ella wants to have an exciting life, and yet has been unable to find something that she can succeed at. (The poor woman doesn't realize that the very FACT that she pursues her dreams makes her an exciting, interesting person-how many people give up before they begin?) One day, however, she gets the idea of holding elegant night cruises on a boat. She ends up finding a boat and purchases it. Peter soon realizes, however, that the boat is sinking, and every night he must pump the water out so the boat can "inflate with air." Why does he do this? Because, he said, "knowing that she'd floated her dreams on a sinking ship would have destroyed her confidence, dashed her hopes."

It's a fun little story with several moments that made me smile. There is also a side story which I found interesting-and a little odd-and I am still analyzing why it was paralled with the boat story. I suppose it was Peter's own "inflation." Hmm.

The BEST thing about the book were the asides. In the middle of the chapter, the dialogue turned into a script, or a newspaper article analyzed the character's thoughts. A few times, the English language was analyzed, which I enjoyed. This is not a book I need to own, but it was worth a one time read.

[HeavyReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading Herb 'n' Lorna, I wanted to read more by Eric Kraft. I got on BookMooch to find something. This was the only book that came up available, so I mooched it. Now I am waiting impatiently for it to arrive so I can read it.

11-27-09 The book arrived a couple of days ago, and I started reading it yesterday. So far, so good.

Final Word: I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as I enjoyed Herb 'n' Lorna.

I thought the writing in this one was really pretentious. The story was kind of dumb too. There was a lot of allusion to sex, but it was not an erotic book.

All in all, two thumbs down from me.

[Greg]

Nothing too serious, but a fun, easy read.

[Cynthia Paschen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely charming story of the mess made by dreams dashed by reality.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is a love-story to the narrator's mother. Very touching and cute, without being precious.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light, sweet story set in the 50's about a mother's dream and spirit of entrepreneurship, as told by her son who helps to keep his mothers dreams afloat.

[Kellie Eizensmits · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice and sometimes funny story

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting. Well written. But ultimitely unispiring.