Customer Reviews

One Night In A Bad Inn: A True Story

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed this book a great deal, and only partly because I lived in Montana for many years and spent some time in Butte. For those who don't know, Butte was home to 'the richest hill on earth' a hundred years ago, sitting on top of the world's largest copper reserves. The town pulled in thousands of Irish, Polish, German, Chinese, English and more and became, in a sense, a smaller version of a typical eastern industrial city. Leskovar set out to write a family history and combines it with a great depiction of Butte and Montana from about 1900 to about 1950. Not all family histories would be interesting, but how many families can say that their great-grandmothers were jailed for murder, or tried to induce a daughter into prostitution, or had a grandfather who fought in some of the toughest battles of World War One and a grandmother who lived a life of purity and purpose though surrounded by weakness and debauchery?

The story skips from Leskovar's great-grandparents' early life as pioneer settlers near Forsyth, Montana to their move to Butte, and does a little preliminary work on family origins. The characters come to life as she tells her tale. She obviously spent many years researching background for this book. Equally obvious is her interest in her grandfather's WWI experiences, which appear to have taken on a life of their own in mid-book and which are almost a story unto themselves. Those who are not interested in WWI may find this section to drag a bit, but as a WWI and WWII enthusiast, I enjoyed the section greatly.

The book is also packed with excellent photos of Butte back in the day, as well as photos of the various characters which people the book. The obvious hero of the book is Leskovar's grandmother. Some of the characters don't do much with their lives, but she does from an early age. And there are plenty of dark characters, with the prime villainess being Leskovar's ammoral/immoral great-grandmother. Leskovar's grandfather, an Irish miner who quit one job after another while raising a large family, comes off as irresponsible and self-centered, but with a tender side as well.

This is a good book, of interest to anyone who enjoys western mining history, Montana history, or a well-turned family saga (that's true to boot). It may be of less interest to a general reader who does not have any of these interests.

Four and a half stars. Thank you, Ms. Leskovar, for an enjoyable and memorable trip back in time.

This book is fascinating. The plot is riveting, the research impeccable and the characters memorable. The narrative is clear and the descriptions are intricate. Whether detailing turn of the century immigration, the Great War or the settling of the American West the author uses the characters to guide the reader through some of America's most tumultuous times. This book is a must read for any student of history and anybody who appreciates a well crafted story.

I became interested in this book because the author, Christy Leskovar, is a former student of my husband's. It is a wonderful book, not just a family history. It contained US and world history as a background for introducing the family members so rather than just being a "family tree", it was also a very well written history book. Christy's love and respect for her Grandmother was apparent through the book, but she wrote it in such a manner that it was interesting to an outsider. It is a very good read!!

Although this was an enjoyable read, as my title suggests there are some minor problems with this book. There are a few sections that seem to have been thrown in as an after thought with no proofing whatsoever. Also,I felt the story got lost in the details at times. Examples are the authors blow by blow account of her Grandfather's war experience and in the extensive genealogical background given on just about every person mentioned in the book. While I can understand her devotion to her Grandmother, she lacks an author's objectivity regarding her family, presenting them simplistically as either all evil or all good. That got old. Despite these noticeable flaws, it was still an interesting read, especially the story of her Great Grandparents shenanigans.

This is quite a book. Admittedly, it has some problems but they are few and the quality of the book far surpasses any negatives. Addressing one of the problems up front; someone noticing the book in their favorite book store is apt to think of it as a novel. It is not. It is a family biography and a fine bit of history. A different title and dustcover would have helped avoid the problem. An exacerbating factor is that opening the book at random may bring one to something that sounds like a novel and the writing is good enough to be the envy of any good novelist.

The book arrangement is in six parts that resemble a series of separate books. Most parts would stand alone, certainly as well as do many related sequences of novels. A first impression was to question the arrangement, but after competing the book it seems that the general chronological organization was the correct choice. Variations in writing style and focus from part to part may well indicate that the parts were drafted separately over a span of years.

From a history standpoint, Part One provides a good description of the unique lifestyle around small communities in southeastern Montana in the first part of the twentieth century. This part also contains an amazing story that leaves a person wondering if indeed they did buy a novel. Part Two opens with as fine a short summary of Butte, Montana, as the reader will find anywhere. That is quite an achievement as the people and events of Butte were so complex and unique at that time as to have been a separate, diverse-culture country in a different era. Likewise, integrated into Part Three is the best short overview of World War I in Europe that this reader has ever seen. The other parts have similar qualities; Part Five contains another story nearly as remarkable as that of Part One. Throughout, the book is illustrated with photos that are interesting and useful contributions to the text.

This author is a skilled writer. The book cover says that she worked as an engineer. The book has the clarity of a good technical writer and is easy to read aloud. However, engineers who can write this well are few and far between. Just imagine an engineer or history professor writing; "...Denis built a simple, wooden coffin and laid both mother and babe in this their last earthly shelter. Now Denis faced the daunting task of raising his six children alone." This is in a chapter that had to resemble the Book of Genesis, but the writing keeps it from dragging. In another part she provides her image of her grandmother Aila; "...the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Indeed, out of this ash heap of scandal and debauchery emerged no mythical bird but a rose - an exquisite blossom, beautiful and delicate in appearance, yet hardy and resilient enough to withstand the bitter cold of sorrow and blistering heat of adversity." Wow!

At its heart, the book is a bibliography of Aila (born in 1901 and lived to age ninety-one), someone that the author greatly respected and nearly worships. It begins with Aila's ancestral family in Ireland and keeps track of those relations as they concern the people and events of the main theme.

The notes and bibliography at the back of the book are excellent. It is too bad that there isn't an index. In fact, careful readers would be wise to develop a timeline and family tree as they read, or perhaps during a second reading. There is some additional information on the author's website, including a travel guide to the physical locations of importance in the story. The amount of time, travel, and expense that went into the research and writing of this book was obviously great. It occupied the author for eight or nine years. It was obviously a labor of love and undoubtedly she feels repaid by a sense of fulfillment, satisfaction from the knowledge gained, and pleasure in the quality of this book. We the readers can be very glad that she brought it to the marketplace.

"One Night in a Bad Inn" is made more interesting and enjoyable because it is the true story of murder and mayhem among the author's ancestors, as well as fascinating historical background about the mining towns in which it takes place. This should appeal to those of us who enjoy family gatherings where we delight in sharing the most outrageous family stories, but have not made the effort to put them in writing.

One Night In A Bad Inn was a truly fascinating tale of one family's history. Not only do you learn the interesting history of this remarkable family, but also so much about World War I and the mining town of Butte, Montana. This book is so rich in detail and content that it should be read and savored while curled up in your favorite chair. Kim Sennes

The story line reminds me of a Thomas Hardy novel, especially "Tess," or "Far From the Madding Crowd."

The author takes the history all the way back to 11th century British Isles, with a fair amount of information on Scotland and Ireland.

The author's digressions into a) extensive family genealogy; and, b) historical events like WWI are interesting as stand-alone sections. For folks eager to get on with the story, it is easy to speed read through these sections. Christy has done a wonderful job separating these digressions into chapters that can easily be returned to and read in depth when the urge returns.

There is not a lot yet written about Montana because it is so young. Compare to the millions of books written on English history, and the hundreds of English, Irish, and Scottish authors from Virginia Woolf to James Joyce. Christy is among those out in front writing about life in the Midwest. Another is Kathleen Norris, although completely different writing styles and subjects.

I generally prefer soft cover books, but the hard cover edition of Christy's book is a pleasure to hold in one's hand.

The book came on time. I read it over a weekend. It was delightful.

This book is so packed with drama, it's hard to believe that it is all true. The book is an easy read because of the excellent writing about fascinating characters and the way the author weaves their story into the mind blowing history that they lived through. Epidemics, world wars, martial law, economic depressions are all brought to life and clearly explained in this story. Those who believe that life is more difficult now than in the past will be relieved of their ignorance while reading this. Another interesting theme of the book is the illustration of how virtue can grow in the most inhospitable soil(like a bordello)if the individual so chooses. It would be hard to excuse criminal behavior because of parental mistreatment after reading this book.