Heartbreak Hotel

by Gabrielle Burton

Described as "wonderfully funny" by Annie Dillard, "Heartbreak Hotel" reveals the collective memories, sorrows, and triumphs embodied in all women as the museum becomes the metaphor for the body of the narrator.

Genres: Fiction, Literature, Novels

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Died September 3, 2015.

Gabrielle Burton, awarded an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, currently splits her time between her Buffalo home and Los Angeles, where she is involved with her daughters' Five Sisters Production Company. Burton is the author of Heartbreak Hotel as well as the nonfiction work I'm Running Away from Home, But I'm Not Allowed to Cross the Street: A Primer on Women's Liberation (1972).

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Buy this for your mother.
Buy it for your sister.
Buy it for your daughter.
Buy it for your grandmother.
Buy it for your granddaughter.
Buy it for your aunt.
Buy it for your great=aunt.
Buy it for your niece.
Buy it for your daughter-in-law.
Buy it for your sister-in-law.
Buy it for your mother-in-law.
Buy it for your step-sister.
Buy it for your step-mother.
Buy it for your step-aunt.
Buy it for your step=grandmother.
Buy it for your great grandmother.
Buy it for your great great grandmother.
Buy it for your grand=niece.
Buy it for your half-sister.
Buy it for your ex-wif(v)e(s).
Buy it for your girlfriend(s).
Buy it for anyone you've ever called an -ess.

Then name your maternal line of descent to 3+ generations.

[Kevin Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a tough book to review. Foremost, this is, without a doubt one of the most profoundly interesting books I’ve ever read. I always write (and say) that certain books should be more widely read. This is on that list. Why this book isn’t on the list of one of the great feminist/female narrative books of all-time is a crime. Yes, a crime. It’s heavy and dense but memorable. It’s for everyone and maybe no one. It deserves to be displayed on bookshelves in bookstores (independent ones!) under the “underread gems” or “instant classics” something like that. You’ll see other positive reviews from friends on GR. If this doesn’t give you the drive to purchase, let theirs. Read on!

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best feminst NOVEL i ever read:
From Publishers Weekly
e is the near future. Six women Maggie, Meg, Rita, Gretchen, Daisy and Pearlare on mandatory leave at Heartbreak Hotel, the resthouse adjoining Buffalo's Museum of the Revolution, whose humpbacked curator Quasi has just been smashed senseless in a motorcycle accident. She survives only by virtue of a grim support system; whether it will save her depends on the six women, three wishing her dead, three praying for her life. She is, in fact, the microcosm of Woman, born wearing the hump of masculine scorn and superiority. While Quasi struggles, Daisy, who runs the hotel, gets word that the museuma vast panoply of exhibits that both deify and degrade women is to be closed; at this point all six hotel residents use their talents to ward off foreclosure. And we learn who they are, and what guilts haunt them. All, Pearl excepted, are aspects of Margaret, whose name is corrupted into the nicknames of the other five. This black comedy/radical feminist novel, Burton's first (she also wrote the nonfiction I'm Running Away from Home but I'm Not Allowed to Cross the Street, and the winner of the Maxwell Perkins Prize) is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes outrageously funny. But its unsubtle message, delivered in sledgehammer fashion, and its often obfuscatory prose may be off-putting to all but the most radical feminists.

[Grace Witzig · Rating 4 out of 5]

the only way to describe the experience while reading this book is that it is an experience. it is so unique compared to anything else i have ever read. there are many passages throughout this book that speak to feminism and what it means to be a woman in our society that i found beautiful and moving. i think i would want to reread this book in the future

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

An impressive, innovative novel, though ultimately exhausting and not comprehensively satisfying.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was confusing but a lot of fun to read.

[Seednot · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant feminist novel. Original, highly imaginative and thought provoking. At times I thought of it as free verse poetry. I lost sense of which way was up a few times, got thrown off course a bit by new characters and situations. Very short chapters, staccato-ish, which I found very helpful - there is a lot to digest here. Keep on pushing through, it's a unique read, and one that I recommend.

Note: I found it interesting to read up a bit on the author beforehand, or during helped.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, so the story and characters are not fresh in my mind. But I recall being very impressed by the writing and structure of the book, its repetitiveness and musicality makes it more like a prose poem than a novel.

I remember this book as a book of lists:

Collectively, the women look down and sigh.
Daisy wishes her breasts were less important.
Pearl wishes her breasts were more assertive.
Maggie wishes her breasts were less maternal.
Meg wishes her breasts were softer.
Gretchen wishes her breasts were guaranteed.
Rita wishes her breasts were insured.

IN THE MUSEUM OF THE REVOLUTION THERE IS A TIT MEASURER. IT HAS MEASURED EVERY TIT THAT HAS EVER BEEN. EVERY ONE IS THE WRONG SIZE.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frenetic, ferocious, funny, and old-school feminist. I first read this book back when it came out in 1986, and really enjoyed then. It is even better now, and serves as a reminder of how far we haven't come.

[Eileen Rendahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this at a time in my life that I felt lost and very alone. It gave me a huge amount of comfort.