Hotel Angeline: A Novel in 36 Voices (2011)

My initial interest in this book came about through my love of Karen Finneyfrock's poetry, but it grew once I learned that this book was created as a part of The Novel: Live. The project was an attempt to have 36 writers take part in a week-long writing marathon live on stage, in which the story would be passed from writer to writer and result in a complete novel. Hotel Angeline is the result of those efforts.

Due to the nature of its creation, there are some holes in the plot here and there and some slight disjointedness, and you definitely get a taste of each writer's style (one author presented their chapter in comic book format), which was most recognizable in the dialog. But I was surprised by just how coherent the story is. Each chapter is by a different author and most are written from Alexis' point of view, but her character remained consistent. She's a girl caught up in the madness of her situation, who becomes very lost very quickly.

There are a slew of interesting characters, including a woman who lives as a pirate, Habib the rave, LJ the not-all-there hippy, and many more. If you ignore the unique process of creation, you still have a good story thats twists into surprising and unexpected directions with an unlimately satisfying conclusion. A good read. ( )

I didn't expect to like Hotel Angeline. After the first couple of chapters I was tempted to put it down. OK, it was funny and a brave effort at performance art by 36 authors writing in 2-hour stretches in front of an audience, but that doesn't make it a great or even a good novel, right? I was very frustrated by the inability of Alexis to learn from the people around her what her reality was. Are all 14-year olds this dense?! Somewhere around the middle of the book, I began to care about her, to hope that she would somehow get herself out of this unholy mess. Finally, I began to see her yearning for normalcy, the desire to be a child again - protected, cared for, loved. We all wish for this sometimes and I am glad that Alexis had the good fortune to find a way. Definitely worth it in the end. ( )

Alexis Austin is taking care of the tenants of the Hotel Angeline in her mother's absence, an absence that Alexis doesn't want anybody to figure out just quite yet. The tenants of the Hotel are a great big mixed eclectic bag of eccentrics who rely maybe a little too heavily on Alexis (and before her, her mother) but who make up the only family that Alexis has ever known. Alexis is too young to have all this responsibility (she's only a teenager, after all), but to her, the alternative is grim to say the least. There's a reason that Alexis doesn't want people to find out where her mother is. However, when Alexis finds out that her uncle may be trying to purchase the Angeline out from under her and the tenants and that he needs to speak to her mother, Alexis finds her life quickly unraveling at the seams and it takes a series of slightly implausible events and the love of her "adopted" family at the Hotel for her to be able to make her life livable again.

OK, so this book took me forever to read. Through most of the book, I had a hard time finding it kept my attention for more than a chapter at a time, and that was being generous. I think part of that had to do with the same fact that held me to reading it; the book is written by a total of 36 authors from the Seattle area. The book was written during an event called The Novel, Live!, where 36 authors, over the span of 6 days, wrote a novel, each taking a chapter at a time. The whole idea was broadcast over the internet and was a fundraiser to help fight illiteracy. The idea was very cool, and the novel, while feeling rather disjointed throughout, is still an impressive feat. The authors had a basic plot to follow, and each was allowed to read what the previous author had written, and then they knew where their chapter was supposed to take them, but other than that, each author had free reign to more or less write whatever they wanted. I think this is what made the novel so long for me to read. There was the definite plot running through the whole thing, but sometimes the chapters didn't quite seem to line up with each other, as each author's distinct writing flavor took over at each new chapter. I will admit, however, that by the end of the story, I was surprised to find myself attached to Alexis and the tenants of the Hotel Angeline and was concerned and happy for their outcomes.

I'm impressed with the whole thing, and if they ever do another one of these I'll definitely read it, but I'm hoping that the next would maybe have a little more tighter editing, maybe? I don't know, just something to make it all seem a little more cohesive as a whole.

Recommended if you enjoy something along the line of experimental writing. ( )

What a great concept! 36 chapters by 36 authors in 6 days. I loved it! There were some chapters/authors that weren't as great as others, but overall it was a fun read.

I will admit that if I read the book without knowing the gimmick, I would have thought it a bit disjointed, but knowing what I was getting into just made it fun. ( )

Quite a feat - that I didn't realize that this book was written by multiple authors until I finished it! This might have been because I was reading an early reviewers copy on my kindle - and assumed the random names at throughout the book were reviewers - but I didn't even notice a change in writing style or theme! Definitely an enjoyable read ( )