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SPAM
A misanthropic b&B owner is unsettled by an encounter with one of his guests.
1 pages, Audiobook
Published February 18, 2020
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 22, 2020
A beautiful short story
March 4, 2020
I must have been distracted when the twist happened (was listening to this while working). Because for me this whole thing just read as a racist being racist, but he's a quiet racist so "it's okay"
Maybe I should listen to it again when I can focus. But I don't know if I will.
It really bugged me that he kept saying 'this isn't a hotel'.... but it's a B&B, that by definition means it falls under the same classification of being a hotel. B&Bs here are an odd thing here, they are often used as weekday housing for those business people who work in London but cannot live in London, who then return back to their home on the weekends. I feel like the author maybe didn't know what a B&B was like?
I live in England. I was here when Grenfell happened. So this has some other feelings for me that I don't know how to express.
But I'm not going to even attempt to express those thoughts, because I am a white privileged female, and I will not speak over the voices of POC.
Maybe I should listen to it again when I can focus. But I don't know if I will.
It really bugged me that he kept saying 'this isn't a hotel'.... but it's a B&B, that by definition means it falls under the same classification of being a hotel. B&Bs here are an odd thing here, they are often used as weekday housing for those business people who work in London but cannot live in London, who then return back to their home on the weekends. I feel like the author maybe didn't know what a B&B was like?
I live in England. I was here when Grenfell happened. So this has some other feelings for me that I don't know how to express.
But I'm not going to even attempt to express those thoughts, because I am a white privileged female, and I will not speak over the voices of POC.
August 17, 2020
Listened to as part of the LeVar Burton Reads podcast series.
Crabby old racist white dude meets black person (in this case a small muslim girl with Somali background) who changes his outlook on life.
Look, this was very well written, especially when it came to the particular brand of crabby that the main character had, but it's also the kind of story we have heard hundreds of times before. Not just that, but it's the kind of story that some black people calls racist, when written by white people, because all the emotional development is on the part of the white person, with the black person acting as a catalyst. And yeah, I really can't see that this does anything to avoid falling into the same trap.
Now you know, you can make up your own mind, whether to read it. I don't feel strongly either way.
Crabby old racist white dude meets black person (in this case a small muslim girl with Somali background) who changes his outlook on life.
Look, this was very well written, especially when it came to the particular brand of crabby that the main character had, but it's also the kind of story we have heard hundreds of times before. Not just that, but it's the kind of story that some black people calls racist, when written by white people, because all the emotional development is on the part of the white person, with the black person acting as a catalyst. And yeah, I really can't see that this does anything to avoid falling into the same trap.
Now you know, you can make up your own mind, whether to read it. I don't feel strongly either way.
February 24, 2020
Listened to LeVar Burton reading this story. A very lovely read, but do not agree with him about the point of the story.
I do not see a privileged man in Nelson Flood, I see a neuroatypical person with OCD and his very regimented and heavily scheduled life gets disrupted. Why else describe his sandwich and timetable so exactly? He was a silent racist yes, and his worldview gets an update with his new guests but this doesn't change that he has scheduled his life for a reason.
Thank you for a lovely story!
I do not see a privileged man in Nelson Flood, I see a neuroatypical person with OCD and his very regimented and heavily scheduled life gets disrupted. Why else describe his sandwich and timetable so exactly? He was a silent racist yes, and his worldview gets an update with his new guests but this doesn't change that he has scheduled his life for a reason.
Thank you for a lovely story!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2020
This story was read on LeVar Burton's podcasts and after he reads the story, LeVar does an excellent job of summarizing the story and it's significance better than any review I could share here.
It's a snapshot into someone's life who has an encounter with people who have difference life experiences and he is determined to keep his rigid way of life but there is an adorable girl who is too young and innocent to be deterred from his stubborn presence.
It's a snapshot into someone's life who has an encounter with people who have difference life experiences and he is determined to keep his rigid way of life but there is an adorable girl who is too young and innocent to be deterred from his stubborn presence.
March 25, 2020
I listened to SPAM by Savannah Burney on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, and this short story dealt with a mildly racist (can you be mildly racist or are you just plain racist?) bed and breakfast owner who reluctantly shelters a mother and child who have been displaced because of an apartment fire. The curmudgeonly owner has no patience for the girl's persistent questions, as he is a creature of habit with OCD tendencies, but at the very last moment, he extends a bit of grace to the child. This story included some great character studies, and I appreciated the bit of hope at the end that people can change for the better.
May 18, 2020
Its a good quick read, but who else caught the ending? Am i wrong or does spam contain pork. If you follow, then you should learn that in Nelson making Ayesha a spam sandwhich, he didnt actually do a good deed, he actually did a heinous act. Because knowing that the girl was a Muslim and after the fact that she said she couldn't have pork, he still made her a pork sandwhich to shut her up and leave him alone. I guess it was a short comedy skit than a short story imo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2020
This is one of those stories that you need to attend to - if you listened to it while doing other things, you likely missed a lot of it. Overall, I like the description of it - a person with privilege who truly does not realize he has privilege - and someone who can begin to break through that shell.
March 30, 2020
I really liked this story. I think it really reflects how most people are when they get a chance to actually get to meet or know someone who is different from them. It might take time and be bumpy, but it can happen
September 22, 2020
A very interesting story about a racist hotel keeper who reluctantly ends up helping an immigrant family who lost their home in a fire.
I found this story quite realistic in that the keeper helped them without the slightest hint of politeness.
I found this story quite realistic in that the keeper helped them without the slightest hint of politeness.
March 2, 2022
Via Levar Burton Reads. I have mixed feelings about this one. The racism and rigidity of the protagonist bothered me. Having a black child as the catalyst for his non-racist behavior felt odd, though the change was hopeful. Giving it a 4 because it elicited emotion.
February 25, 2020
The ending made the story special.
February 27, 2020
Grumpy guy with a heart of a bureaucrat.
May 9, 2023
Short story about a curmudgeonly, racist old man who is very particular
November 25, 2023
Cute short story
March 20, 2020
3.0⭐ “And no, you cannot use, borrow, or have anything because this is not a hotel!”
**spoilers**
♡ LBR 2020♡
It’s LeVar Burton Reads season 6, and we’re gifted with “SPAM” by Savannah Burney.
First of all prose, characterization, 5 stars across the board. As for the point of the story...
Jeeze...I don’t know.
I don’t know if I’m bad at receiving or if maybe my worldview is becoming jilted and distrustful. I did not initially see this as a story about a deep, glowing human decency buried under a man’s prejudice. I saw it as a prejudice man doing whatever it took to get a child out of his hair.
None of the story lends much context to the contrary. He doesn’t want anyone there, he doesn’t honor their beliefs, he admits to a general aversion to brown people.
Like I said, maybe I’m just jilted. I was an only child and there were often no other kids to occupy myself with. I know what it looks like when an adult is just giving you the runaround to get you out of their face.
But, he did see she made an attempt with the pork-flavored vegan product and was just uncomfortable. Maybe it really was a kindness.
Like I said, could be that I’m just jilted. Could be that human decency sometimes has the motive of getting someone out of your face. We don’t like to think about things. Either way, great story. I love Aysha's response? I wish I had the clarity and perspective to handle my shit like that. Like when someone is treating me like garbage, it's spiritually pristine to feel sympathy and realize, Man, this dude is really going through something.
Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet with us at LeVar Burton Reads: The Official Community on Facebook.
- 📚☕♥
Goodreads Official Star Representation
5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.
**spoilers**
♡ LBR 2020♡
It’s LeVar Burton Reads season 6, and we’re gifted with “SPAM” by Savannah Burney.
First of all prose, characterization, 5 stars across the board. As for the point of the story...
Jeeze...I don’t know.
I don’t know if I’m bad at receiving or if maybe my worldview is becoming jilted and distrustful. I did not initially see this as a story about a deep, glowing human decency buried under a man’s prejudice. I saw it as a prejudice man doing whatever it took to get a child out of his hair.
None of the story lends much context to the contrary. He doesn’t want anyone there, he doesn’t honor their beliefs, he admits to a general aversion to brown people.
Like I said, maybe I’m just jilted. I was an only child and there were often no other kids to occupy myself with. I know what it looks like when an adult is just giving you the runaround to get you out of their face.
But, he did see she made an attempt with the pork-flavored vegan product and was just uncomfortable. Maybe it really was a kindness.
Like I said, could be that I’m just jilted. Could be that human decency sometimes has the motive of getting someone out of your face. We don’t like to think about things. Either way, great story. I love Aysha's response? I wish I had the clarity and perspective to handle my shit like that. Like when someone is treating me like garbage, it's spiritually pristine to feel sympathy and realize, Man, this dude is really going through something.
Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet with us at LeVar Burton Reads: The Official Community on Facebook.
- 📚☕♥
Goodreads Official Star Representation
5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.
May 20, 2020
Levar burton reads
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews