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The Commercial Hotel
When John Summers moved to a small town in the Wairarapa and began to look closely at the less-celebrated aspects of local life – our club rooms, freezing works, night trains, hotel pubs, landfills – he saw something deeper. It was a story about his own life, but mostly about a place and its people. The story was about life and death in New Zealand.
Combining reportage and memoir, The Commercial Hotel is a sharp-eyed, poignant yet often hilarious tour of Aotearoa: a place in which Arcoroc mugs and dog-eared political biographies are as much a part of the scenery as the hills we tramp through ill-equipped. We encounter Elvis impersonators, the eccentric French horn player and adventurer Bernard Shapiro, Norman Kirk balancing timber on his handlebars while cycling to his building site, and Summers’s grandmother: the only woman imprisoned in New Zealand for protesting World War Two. And we meet the ghosts who haunt our loneliest spaces.
As he follows each of his preoccupations, Summers reveals to us a place we have never quite seen before.
Combining reportage and memoir, The Commercial Hotel is a sharp-eyed, poignant yet often hilarious tour of Aotearoa: a place in which Arcoroc mugs and dog-eared political biographies are as much a part of the scenery as the hills we tramp through ill-equipped. We encounter Elvis impersonators, the eccentric French horn player and adventurer Bernard Shapiro, Norman Kirk balancing timber on his handlebars while cycling to his building site, and Summers’s grandmother: the only woman imprisoned in New Zealand for protesting World War Two. And we meet the ghosts who haunt our loneliest spaces.
As he follows each of his preoccupations, Summers reveals to us a place we have never quite seen before.
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
200 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 27, 2022
A diverse collection of essays (preoccupations) that are quirky, reflective and insightful – often touching on forgotten snippets of NZ history. One to keep for rereading.
January 25, 2023
3.5 Stars!
There are moments when this really comes alive with colour and shape. Summers covers some interesting and varied ground in here from the humble Acoroc mug, also known as a Marae mug or its official title of Fumer coffee mug. Those hideous looking smoked glass cups to the history of his gran's activism and pacifism, which was particularly absorbing.
Apparently New Zealand “was the toughest country among allies in dealing with conscientious objectors, who they put away for the duration of the war in prison camps, whereas in other allied countries, Britain, Australia, Canada, the United States, that wasn’t the case.”
In 1968 when 21 year old, New Zealander, Bryan Petersen was shot and killed in the Vietnam War (one fellow soldier claiming it was by their own incompetent side), the NZ Army contacted the family and then asked if they would like to bring the body of their child home, and then charged them $400 (a huge sum for the time) to cover the cost.
As the father didn’t earn enough the town got together to raise enough money, and yet the army still insisted on talking to the family’s bank manager on the phone and then again in person to check he was good for the funds. Astonishingly their local MP and the then PM, Keith Hollyoake, who apparently owned a nearby farm too, refused to meet the grieving family to help or discuss the matter.
There is an inconsistency to this collection , with a few of these being pretty rough, dull and bland, which probably shouldn’t have made it in, but I still enjoyed this and Summers makes for enjoyable company and comes across as an affable chap too. He clearly has the talent when he puts his mind to it and I look forward to reading more of his work.
There are moments when this really comes alive with colour and shape. Summers covers some interesting and varied ground in here from the humble Acoroc mug, also known as a Marae mug or its official title of Fumer coffee mug. Those hideous looking smoked glass cups to the history of his gran's activism and pacifism, which was particularly absorbing.
Apparently New Zealand “was the toughest country among allies in dealing with conscientious objectors, who they put away for the duration of the war in prison camps, whereas in other allied countries, Britain, Australia, Canada, the United States, that wasn’t the case.”
In 1968 when 21 year old, New Zealander, Bryan Petersen was shot and killed in the Vietnam War (one fellow soldier claiming it was by their own incompetent side), the NZ Army contacted the family and then asked if they would like to bring the body of their child home, and then charged them $400 (a huge sum for the time) to cover the cost.
As the father didn’t earn enough the town got together to raise enough money, and yet the army still insisted on talking to the family’s bank manager on the phone and then again in person to check he was good for the funds. Astonishingly their local MP and the then PM, Keith Hollyoake, who apparently owned a nearby farm too, refused to meet the grieving family to help or discuss the matter.
There is an inconsistency to this collection , with a few of these being pretty rough, dull and bland, which probably shouldn’t have made it in, but I still enjoyed this and Summers makes for enjoyable company and comes across as an affable chap too. He clearly has the talent when he puts his mind to it and I look forward to reading more of his work.
March 27, 2022
Everyhting about these stories is what it means to live in Aotearoa. So quintessentially of our country these stories delight, every one of them.
Whether to read right through or dip in and out of its all about us.
Whether to read right through or dip in and out of its all about us.
June 13, 2026
A collection of essays about quirks and curious characters of New Zealand.
This book brings together Summers’ writings for publications such as North & South and The Spinoff. The standout story for me was Temperament, about his pacifist grandmother and highly-strung grandfather.
The amount of research that went into this story and some of the others is outstanding and the writing is always beautiful. I liked that the stories were different lengths, unbound by format restrictions. Short stories aren’t my cup of tea but I’m scoring it highly out of admiration.
This book brings together Summers’ writings for publications such as North & South and The Spinoff. The standout story for me was Temperament, about his pacifist grandmother and highly-strung grandfather.
The amount of research that went into this story and some of the others is outstanding and the writing is always beautiful. I liked that the stories were different lengths, unbound by format restrictions. Short stories aren’t my cup of tea but I’m scoring it highly out of admiration.
December 21, 2021
This is a book I am going to have to come back to (it is way past it's due date at the library). However the essays that I have read (about half) are clever, thoughtful, keenly observant, well researched, full of information, sometimes funny and often bringing back memories of a different time when I grew up in the seventies and eighties. There are zinger sentences and sentiments which jumped off the page and resonated with me. Yes - this is definitely a book I will return to.
April 13, 2025
A wide-ranging collection of reflections on topics deeply familiar to the kiwi DNA. Dumps, Arcoroc coffee cups, freezing works, tramping, small town New Zealand, returned and not returned soldiers.
So powerfully economically with words. So clever at weaving a thread back into a story.
I defy any middle-class, average NZer to read this and not be moved, humoured, informed, engaged, challenged and LOLed (is that even a word, yet?).
Dehydrated Giant indeed!
So powerfully economically with words. So clever at weaving a thread back into a story.
I defy any middle-class, average NZer to read this and not be moved, humoured, informed, engaged, challenged and LOLed (is that even a word, yet?).
Dehydrated Giant indeed!
October 4, 2026
mostly pretty strong collection of essays on NZ life, however I found the more personal nostalgia ones a little cloying and the weakest in the book. it really shines when it combines this personal recollection/family history with broader events such as the closure of freezing works, and the essay on Norman Kirk and his house.
December 28, 2022
An illustrative series of essays encompassing nostalgic slices of New Zealand life. It evokes memories of sounds, smells and sights of places and stories that are familiar and long-gone. A precious find for sure!
July 29, 2025
This is a great exploration of NZ, NZ history, NZ small town, and its not romanticising things. This book brings up the good and ugly. I think it is funny to think how little has changed, really. Is that a good or bad thing?
December 26, 2021
i liked the book. remind me of steve braunias listener columns about lamingtons and non-espresso coffee. best ones were about his grandma, staffroom cups, and norm kirk.
July 24, 2022
I loved this book. John is an awesome writer and storyteller.
September 9, 2023
A ramble through NZ past. Reminiscence and reflections from the Wairarapa.
January 1, 2025
I can’t believe I’ve never come across John Summers before. This was a happy Christmas present. It’s a beautifully written compilation of musings and experiences. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews