Kiss in the Hotel Joseph Conrad (Contemporary American Fiction) [Mass Market Paperback]

H. Norman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These seven stories by the author of the highly praised novel, The Northern Lights , are inhabited mostly by eccentric loners. "Although these diverse tales are provocative and distinguished by Norman's ability to transmute the circumstances of daily lives into exotic encounters, his talent seems better suited to the novel's longer form," observed PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); First Edition edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014013199X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140131994
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,638,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

HOWARD NORMAN is a three-time winner of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a winner of the Lannan Award for fiction. His 1987 novel, The Northern Lights, was nominated for a National Book Award, as was his 1994 novel The Bird Artist. He is also author of the novels The Museum Guard, The Haunting of L, and Devotion. His books have been translated into twelve languages. Norman teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Vermont with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mixed collection., May 3, 2008

By 

David M. Giltinan (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kiss in the Hotel Joseph Conrad (Contemporary American Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

An uneven collection of seven short stories by the author of "The Bird Artist" and "The Museum Guard". Many of the stories feature one of Howard Norman's typically quirky, unmarried, 'male in his 20s or 30s' narrators. In his novels, these characters have the opportunity to grow on, and charm, the reader - this is less the case within the confines of the short story, so that often what remains with the reader is the eccentricity, without the charm.

I found the title story, in which the main protagonist never transcends his wilful eccentricity, to be the least successful among the seven included in this book. "Old Swimmers", with its alienated teenager and geriatric survivors of a torpedoed ferry, also failed to rise above the quirkiness of its characters. "Milk Train", in which an engineer considers his life while waiting for rescue in the aftermath of a train crash, seemed pointless, lacking in any kind of resolution.

However, I really enjoyed the remaining four stories: "Jenny Aloo", in which an Eskimo woman believes the spirit of her son has been trapped in a jukebox, "Laughing and Crying" (a young teenaged boy's confusion following his parents' divorce), "Whatever Lola Wants" (a man's special 50th birthday gift to his wife), and - the best in the book, in my opinion - "Catching Heat", in which a racing announcer describes his sadness at the loss of his girlfriend to a jockey.

As I said, a mixed bag. But the four best stories are really exceptional. Norman stays on my list of interesting writers to look out for.