Description
In this uproariously funny memoir, Ludwig Bemelmans uncovers the fabulous world of the Hotel Splendide, the luxury New York hotel where he worked as a waiter. With equal parts affection and barbed wit, he records the everyday chaos that reigns behind the smooth facades of the gilded dining room and banquet halls. In hilarious detail, Bemelmans sketches the hierarchy of hotel life and its strange and fascinating inhabitants: from the ruthlessly authoritarian maitre d'hotel Monsieur Victor to the kindly waiter Mespoulets to Frizl the homesick busboy. Illustrated with his own charming line drawings, Bemelmans' tales of a bygone era of extravagance are as charming as they are riotously entertaining.
About the Author
LUDWIG BEMELMANS (1898-1962) was an Austrian-born American writer, artist and illustrator. He emigrated from Austria to America in 1914, at the age of sixteen, and initially worked in the New York hotel industry before becoming a full-time cartoonist and writer. As an illustrator, he made frequent contributions to the New Yorker, Vogue and Town and Country, and created the famous murals in the Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel in New York. He published many books for both children and adults, including the beloved Madeline children's books.
Reviews
"An uproarious account of his life as a waiter at the thinly disguised Ritz-Carlton in the 1920s . . . He is a canny observer with a wry sense of humor, an innocent bystander who simply looks on. He's like P.G. Wodehouse, with a touch of the Marx Brothers. . . . a delight from beginning to end."
--The Wall Street Journal
"Hotel Splendide, Bemelmans's 1941, out-of-print memoir, which is being reissued by Pushkin Press this month, is a delightful passport to a long-lost era"
--Air Mail
"The original bad boy of the New York restaurant/hotel underbelly. Bemelmans is always funny, insightful and dead on target."
--Anthony Bourdain
"Freshness and vitality...wit, humor, pathos, and the inimitable Bemelmans' touch."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The kitchen memoir to end them all."
--Slightly Foxed
"A seemingly light-hearted yet deceptively dark memoir of [Bemelmans'] time working in a luxury hotel in 1920s New York. A gently flowing, delightfully gossipy read, I could easily picture the entirety shot in black-and-white vignettes, Woody Allen style."
--Irish Times
"A charming memoir."
--Independent
"Immensely fun and an absolutely charming book... a beautiful classic"
--WAMC North East Public Radio Book Picks.
Book Information
ISBN 9781782277910
Author Ludwig Bemelmans
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Pushkin Press
Publisher Pushkin Press
About the Author
LUDWIG BEMELMANS (1898-1962) was an Austrian-born American writer, artist and illustrator. He emigrated from Austria to America in 1914, at the age of sixteen, and initially worked in the New York hotel industry before becoming a full-time cartoonist and writer. As an illustrator, he made frequent contributions to the New Yorker, Vogue and Town and Country, and created the famous murals in the Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel in New York. He published many books for both children and adults, including the beloved Madeline children's books.
Reviews
"An uproarious account of his life as a waiter at the thinly disguised Ritz-Carlton in the 1920s . . . He is a canny observer with a wry sense of humor, an innocent bystander who simply looks on. He's like P.G. Wodehouse, with a touch of the Marx Brothers. . . . a delight from beginning to end."
--The Wall Street Journal
"Hotel Splendide, Bemelmans's 1941, out-of-print memoir, which is being reissued by Pushkin Press this month, is a delightful passport to a long-lost era"
--Air Mail
"The original bad boy of the New York restaurant/hotel underbelly. Bemelmans is always funny, insightful and dead on target."
--Anthony Bourdain
"Freshness and vitality...wit, humor, pathos, and the inimitable Bemelmans' touch."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The kitchen memoir to end them all."
--Slightly Foxed
"A seemingly light-hearted yet deceptively dark memoir of [Bemelmans'] time working in a luxury hotel in 1920s New York. A gently flowing, delightfully gossipy read, I could easily picture the entirety shot in black-and-white vignettes, Woody Allen style."
--Irish Times
"A charming memoir."
--Independent
"Immensely fun and an absolutely charming book... a beautiful classic"
--WAMC North East Public Radio Book Picks.
Book Information
ISBN 9781782277910
Author Ludwig Bemelmans
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Pushkin Press
Publisher Pushkin Press
