Motel Chronicles

This is like a rich scrapbook or journal unearthed from the glove box of an old pickup in Shepard's yard. Few of the entries are longer than a couple of pages, but they each pack a punch. Then, there is the head-scratching effort to figure how much each one is auto-biographical - like was the starlet in the story from 1981, whom the narrator got drunk and toned with while they were making a movie, is that Jessica Lange?? Regardless of the quotient of autobiography, the stories and poems, however short or long, are gilded with an air of absolute authenticity - Shepard's super-power. Sure his plays are great and they won awards, but I wish there was so much more of this.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!

This slim volume of random poems, photos and prose sketches, is no mere scrap heap, for it contains the sort of delightful, deranged, dusty, and gothic bits of art that would be spotlighted if the two guys on American Pickers were transformed into earwigs and allowed to spend several weeks crawling around inside Sam Shepard's brain. It's really the perfect book for waiting in line. Each page, for the most part, is a self-contained vignette, which you can digest in a minute, or ruminate on for much longer, until the receptionist, or unemployment clerk, nurse, or maitre d' calls your name. Imagine filling a bowl, in William Buroughs collage fashion, with snippets in the styles of Richard Brautigan, Arthur Rimbaud, and Charles Bukowski and show more then blowing the mix into a whirlwind with a hairdryer set to the temperature of summer in West Texas. The scattered fallout would approximate the flavor, rhythm and pattern as Motel Chronicles. Magically, a mosaic portrait of the author emerges, with a Mona Lisa enigmatic grin (with maybe a toothpick and tilted cowboy hat added), no matter how you scatter the pieces. show less

Antes de ler esse livro eu só conhecia o trabalho do Shepard como escritor como roteirista de cinema seja pro Altman, pro Antonioni, pro Wenders, pro Bob Dylan ou pra ele mesmo na direção, sempre descambando para obras-primas das telas, mas essas pílulas biográficas que encontramos aqui soam tão autênticas quanto os roteiros coesos e ao mesmo tempo existenciais que encontrei pelo caminho.

Early writings from Shepherd. Snippets of memories. Better writing came later but it was a start on the reflections of his life travelling and working in the western US.

The story, and the longest in the collection, tells about the injury to the brain of his mother-in-law Scarlett, Johnny Dark's wife, and their family alliance for all chipping in, bringing her home after surgery, and helping to bring her back into the world. A wonderful story. And one of several well-worth reading in this collection.

Las carreteras, los coches, la soledad y la aventura empapan estas "Crónicas de motel", un libro de «historias rotas», fragmentos autobiográficos, relatos y poemas admirablemente servidos por una escritura rápida y escueta.

Historias cortas, fotos, fogonazos llegados del fondo de la mente de Shepard en su recorrido por las carreteras de Texas; fechadas para realzar esa necesidad de situar las cosas en ese momento y en ese sitio. Cosas propias-recuerdos pasados, duros o dulces-, personas que pasan y dejan su impresión en el negativo de la mente; gentes normales sin pasado ni futuro en lugares con pasado y sin futuro; vaqueros; camareras; extras de películas con las ilusiones muertas; amor de media hora; calor; Texas. Todo pasa por show more dentro o cruza por delate de las ventanas de los moteles. show less