Hotel Bemelmans
by Ludwig Bemelmans
On This Page
Description
If there is such a thing as a comfort food book, Bemelmans' stories are it. His evocative tales of grand hotel life have a reporter's eye for sensory detail, yet he always manages to bathe his world and it's lovable characters in the mood of a fairy tale. Meet the girl-hungry hotel Magician, Kalakobe the African cook, Mr Sigsag, Monsieur Victor, Mespoulet and an unforgettable cast of down but not yet out hotel employees. A feast of food writing. And once you've read one Bemelmans' tale you show more fall in love and want to read the lot. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Bits and pieces of Bemelmans' work taken from four previous collections, with the common theme of his memories working for the "Hotel Splendide," his pseudonym for the New York Rtiz-Carlton. How much is real, and how much is invented, in these memories is wide open for speculation. Some of it seems fantastic. As Anthony Bourdain in the intro notes, at least one of the stories is old tall-tale that's been circulating for decades in hotels, and might even go back into antiquity. The quality of the stories varies, with some being quite funny, and one being very unpleasant (where Bemelmans is getting played by a pre-teen con artist). The drawings are among the best things in the book, and are either well-observed or funny.
Probably the only Bemelmans you need. I've not been thoroughly entertained by his besotted travel books like, e.g., How to Travel Incognito. Who cares? I suppose it's the thrill of the behind-the-scene of the hotel business 80 years ago. In that regard, it's like [b:Kitchen Confidential|33313|Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (updated edition)|Anthony Bourdain|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168422043s/33313.jpg|4219] but, you know, well-written.
This is truly a rollickingly funny book. I guffawed through every chapter. Bemelmans has a very unique "voice", which is very spare prose couple with a biting wit. This is an absolute must-read. And a book I will re-read in the future.
This is a compilation of 26 stories about Bemelmans' life in the American luxury hotel business before World War II, all but two taken from other books of his. Anyone who has read his "Hotel Splendide" will be familiar with some of them and with most of the characters. It is informative, funny and pathetic, both about the employees and their wealthy clients.
Slyly, purposefully naive drawings and stories. What a charming man.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Written and Illustrated By
805 works; 1 member
Author Information
95+ Works 30,846 Members
Ludwig Bemelmans, April 27, 1898 - October 1, 1962 Ludwig Bemelmans was born on April 27, 1898 in Meran, then Austria. At the age of eight, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Regensburg, Germany. He was enrolled into various public and private schools and failed out of most of them. At the age of twelve, unsure of what else to do show more with him, Bemelmans was apprenticed to an uncle in the hotel business and proceeded to go through many jobs, being repeatedly dismissed. After supposedly shooting and almost killing a waiter, his family gave him the ultimatum of reform school or emigration to the United States. He arrived in America in 1914 with reference letters from his uncle to various hotel managers in New York. Bemelmans obtained a job as a waiter in the Ritz-Carlton, but left that job to join the Army in 1917. In the Army, he worked with German speaking recruits and as a military hospital guard. In 1918, Bemelmans became a naturalized citizen, returning to hotel and restaurant work a year later, eventually opening his own restaurant. In the 1934, at the suggestion of one of his friends, Bemelmans began to write, producing his first children's book, "Hansi." He was best known though, for his series of books about the little french girl, "Madeline," which is still a childhood favorite. "Madeline's Rescue," the second book in the series, won the Caldecott Medal in 1953. His first book for adults was entitled, "My War with the United States" and was a diary of his experiences in the service during World War I. In fact, Bemelmans usually wrote his books based on his life experiences, such as "Life Class" and "Hotel Splendide," about his life as a restaurateur, his travels to Ecuador and Italy appeared in "The Donkey Inside" and "Italian Holiday," and his brief stint as a screenwriter in Hollywood was the basis for "Dirty Eddie." Bemelmans wrote about a book or two a year and was a contributor to Town and Country and Horizon, as well as a cover illustrator for The New Yorker. In his later years, Bemelmans enjoyed some small fame from painting, with some of his work appearing in various galleries. Ludwig Bemelmans died of pancreatic cancer in New York on October 1, 1962. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Ludwig Bemelmans
- Important places
- Hotel Splendide, New York, New York, USA
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 248
- Popularity
- 130,251
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.93)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 6
