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Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails: A Memoir

3.18 of 5 stars 3.18 · rating details · 141 ratings · 39 reviews

Following the success of Jarhead, Anthony Swofford assumed he had exorcised his military demons -- but as every veteran knows, that isn't exactly how it works. In these searing, courageous pages, Swofford struggles to make sense of what his military service meant, and to decide -- after nearly ending it -- what his life can and should become.

Consumed by drugs, booze, fast...more

Hardcover, 300 pages

Published June 5th 2012 by Twelve

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Nov 22, 2012 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Probably most people who pick this up will be expecting 'Jarhead Revisited', and this is not the case. The book is a chronicle of the author's experiences 'after' he attained literary fame and fortune. However, many unresolved issues prevented him from enjoying his new life, and first and foremost was the fractured relationship with his father. This book is Anthony's attempt to rectify the situation, but it almost becomes a chronicle of the conflict between two extremely opinionated individuals...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Nicolemauerman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is about life after success for Anthony Swofford. In this memoir the author discusses his life after writing the popular Jarhead (which was also made into a movie). Basically, he lived a fast life: slept with multiple woman in a day, drove his car so fast and carelessly that he smashed it to pieces outside his home, and drank and did drugs liberally. Although that is the premise of the book the author focuses a lot of writing and energy on his relationship with his father. To say it is...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Noelle Crisafulli rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

I got this book because I remember reading Jarhead and recommended it to my Marine friends. Then, reading this, I remembered that the main character (the author) was a jerk, but I admired him for gutting it out during the first Gulf War and then going on to the Iowa Writers Workshop and getting published.

This book just reinforces the idea that he is a jerk - a multi-philandering, money-wasting, drug-taking, irresponsible-drinking, jerk who also happens to have a dad who may be an even bigger je...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had read Jarhead and was interested in seeing what had transpired in Anthony Swofford's life since his best selling book was made into a movie. Swofford drags us along on nearly a decade of drugs, promiscuity, infidelity and other unsafe behaviors. It's kind of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He also is trying and trying again to solve his hate/love/hate/love relationship with his father. In this book he details his family history as he looks for more differences between himself an...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Roger DeBlanck rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The mood Swofford creates in his memoir feels like an adrenaline rush. His recollections are lucid, frenetic, edgy, unabashed, and unapologetic. Each chapter scintillates with explosive, well-written prose and the pacing moves fast, but some chapters sting with insight while others, though interesting, feel like fillers. At times the book’s narration feels scattered and fragmented, and at other times its remembrances burst off the page in brilliant, heartbreaking fashion. At its core, the memoir...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Swofford returns to the memoir with this exploration into the father-son dynamic via the capital-r, capital-t Road Trip. Except that the actual Road Trip is but a small piece of a much larger, much less packaged tableau of events in and out of Swofford's rise to literary fame post Jarhead. This is a fast read, and extremely interesting if you've ever wondered what happens when a serious writer tries to move like Mick Jagger (answer: they crash, burn, sign a lot of irresponsible leases, stock up...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Becky Sandham Mathwin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I give "Hotels, Hospitals and Jails" a very reluctant two stars. Anthony Swofford is a good writer and the book was somewhat entertaining but I really don't like him as a person and found a lot of the book really annoying. I wouldn't have finished it if it were something I were actually reading (I listened to it as an audio book).

The main topic of the book is Mr. Swofford's troubled relationship with his father but a big chunk of the book consists of Mr. Swofford bragging about all of the women...more I give "Hotels, Hospitals and Jails" a very reluctant two stars. Anthony Swofford is a good writer and the book was somewhat entertaining but I really don't like him as a person and found a lot of the book really annoying. I wouldn't have finished it if it were something I were actually reading (I listened to it as an audio book).

The main topic of the book is Mr. Swofford's troubled relationship with his father but a big chunk of the book consists of Mr. Swofford bragging about all of the women he's slept with and how he was (direct quote) "a Zen master at infidelity." Wow, "a Zen master at infidelity"...that's something to really be proud of LOL. Either he's a big exaggerator or he must really know how to sweet talk the ladies (or maybe he's really good in bed) because according to him he's never had any trouble finding numerous good looking women to repeatedly have sex with him. Mr. Swofford's first memoir is "Jarhead" which was made into a film starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Not to be rude, but based on his author photo Mr. Swofford is a decent looking guy but he's no Jake Gyllenhaal. I had a tough time believing he got laid as much as he claims he did or that the multitude of women he had sex with were as beautiful as he describes them. He brags about cheating on multiple girlfriends and his first wife and not getting caught, how he had the opportunity to cheat with one (and maybe two women) days before his wedding but turned it down and how a number of his lady friends were disappointed when he settled down and got married for the second time at 40. Of course, once he turned 40 in 2010 he decided that he was tired of all of the partying and screwing around and it was time for him to be a better man, meet the right woman, get married and start a family-all of which he was able to achieve within 6 months of his 40th birthday. Must be nice to spend 20 years acting like a s**t and then have it all fall into place so perfectly...he decided he was ready for family life and like magic there it was! Oh, and of course his wife is not only beautiful but brilliant and artistically talented because he could never marry a woman who wasn't (he had been with other ladies who weren't very talented and apparently it was a big turn off).

Bottom line-if you enjoy reading decently written memoirs written by a**holes than I'd recommend "Hotels, Hospitals and Jails." If not, I'd give this one a pass.

(less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't read Jarhead or see the film, but I went to a reading Swofford did in Sacramento and was moved by his words - and by seeing him with his wife and child. It seemed very obvious to me that having them in his life shifted Swofford for the better, and I wanted to read how he got from rock bottom to where he is now. This memoir tells that story beautifully. He is direct and unapologetic when he tells of his sexcapades, his drinking & drug use, and his hatred of his father. This book may...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Rick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you read Jarhead Anthony Swofford's really good memoir about being a sniper in the first Iraq War it probably would not surprise you that Swofford drank drugged and screwed like a maniac after he became famous and at least for a while rich. This memoir lacks the bite of Jarhead and the rejuvenated Swofford saved by the love of a good woman and a newborn baby seems about 5 years and another memoir away from how he survived the trauma of divorce and still stayed a good father. Swofford's recoll...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Geeta rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up

The single star says it all. I did try, and I was halfway through a fifty-page dissection of a letter Swofford's father sent to him when I finally gave up, thanks to a book review in the Sunday NYT. It wasn't me, it was the book. Phew.

Swofford's hate-love relationship with his father, more hate than love, just wasn't that interesting. Neither was Swofford's use of sex, drugs and alcohol. I got tired of hearing about his awesome libido--I can't imagine a reader who wouldn't. I probably should hav...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Alejandro Mujica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thesis-reading-list

After Swofford's lukewarm first novel, Exit A, it's a pleasure to pore over his well-established memoirist prose again. Like a light continuation to Jarhead, Anthony Swofford covers the self-destructive lifestyle of a veteran and author who juggles lovers, drugs, and his career, all while butting heads with his terminally ill father—a man who Swofford wishes he took less from.

As the title hints, he stumbles through a bachelor's life—from woman to pill, to his father's RV, to the drunk tank, to...more After Swofford's lukewarm first novel, Exit A, it's a pleasure to pore over his well-established memoirist prose again. Like a light continuation to Jarhead, Anthony Swofford covers the self-destructive lifestyle of a veteran and author who juggles lovers, drugs, and his career, all while butting heads with his terminally ill father—a man who Swofford wishes he took less from.

As the title hints, he stumbles through a bachelor's life—from woman to pill, to his father's RV, to the drunk tank, to the Bethesda Naval Clinic. Each place and person he runs into reflects on how Swofford makes sense of (or avoids) his world. His promiscuity and self-professed mastery of sleeping with different women in the same hotel takes a toll on his character. He develops from a Scheidenjäger (roughly translated as “pussy hound,” a nickname his father received when he was younger), to a shallow lover, and finally to a father. Part of the conflict Swofford has with his father comes from this transition and his realization that they both traveled the same road in their own ways.

He compares his experiences in the Gulf to the Global War on Terror and the marines that end up in hospital beds and wheelchairs all over the U.S. The scene in Bethesda is treated with the same unrelenting grit presented in Jarhead, but with the clarity of a distant observer, taking in the faces of frazzled mothers and the forced faith and posturing of marines too injured to rejoin the fight. The hospital visit wakes up the sniper he used to be (in some ways still is) and he “smelled burned sand and scorched asphalt” on the ride home. He doesn't talk about PTSD or any symptoms he might have, but his lifestyle choices at the time, and the flash of war memories, show that his short time in the Corps made a lasting impression.

Moments like these shine on their own, yet the meat of the story is built around the tumultuous father-and-son relationship, which misses slightly less than it hits. As the stories progress, his father becomes less of an antagonist and the linchpin for “Tone's” struggles growing up and more of a victim. For the second half of the memoir, his illness and nearing death are given enough detail that they become larger issues than the decades-past mistreatment of his family. In fact, Swofford's bland scrutinizing of his father's letters and his relentless anger towards him make him out to be an unsympathetic narrator. For the second half, Swofford takes the role of antagonist. This doesn't quite let up until the last thirty or so pages, when he becomes a father himself, and there's a flash of a resolution on one of their RV trips. The turning point is earned, but it didn't have the gravitas that it deserved for a balance between conflict and resolution (an issue I also found with the final scene in his novel).

Other critics have argued that Swofford is self-indulgent and I have to disagree (although his father's letters could have stayed in a shoe box somewhere), but because this is a memoir about transitioning, and that's something I am personally involved with as a fellow marine veteran. If Swofford's prose stuck out to you in Jarhead, then H,H & J will interest you.(less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Brandon rated it 2 of 5 stars

incredibly disappointed with this memoir; while i read & liked Jarhead, in H,H,&J i found many of Swofford's introspective instances vapid at best, "as shallow as a shower stall."

Swofford's immaturity is perhaps best highlighted in a chapter in which he systematical dismantles and provides counterpoints for an eight page long letter his father sent to him a few years back.

this not a man's memoir, but a teenage boy's diary, complete with Oedipal rage and boorish angst.

o and by the way,...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Zoe rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012books, non-fiction

There's some very good writing in this book, but it's unfortunately clouded by a lot of not-so-good writing about unresolved father issues, a first marriage and divorce (mentioned only fleetingly, which makes me wonder if he's saving it for his next memoir), excessive drug use, unhealthy relationships, and compulsive sex in exotic locations. I also spotted a typo ("sad" instead of "said"), which bugged me more than it should have, likely because it reinforced my belief that this was churned out...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Robin Schoenthaler rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just couldn't take it, quit halfway through (a rarity for me). It slays me when men (still!) refer to the women as "the" -- "the" flight attendant, "the woman in the bed," "the girl in San Francisco."

I have a strong desire to see the world through a variety of men's eyes, but I have an even stronger sense of not wanting to waste time on books that make my stomach clench.

So back to the stacks with this one.

(A turn of phrase I'm guessing he might twist in some misogynist fashion, but perhaps no...more

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Nov 11, 2012 SA rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I more or less read anything when it comes to Swofford. This book was a heart-wringer, and it was meant to be; his memoir of his own wrung-out heart laid across the page. People expecting the heir to Jarhead are likely to be disappointed, but there's a lot to dig into here. The frank way he deals with his own success and celebrity is clearly supposed to inspire disregard; it evidentially inspired disregard and no small self-loathing in Swofford himself.

Anyone who has ever had a strained relatio...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Patti K rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs-auto-bio

This 2012 memoir follows Swofford's first, Jarhead. It is a machismo tour de force
of his letdown after success and wealth arrivd from his first book. Too many drugs, alcohol,
and sex had him spiralling out of control. He fairly boasts of his "downfall" before
confronting his contentious relationship with his father. That part is worthwhile and
a fierce portrait of how connected we become with our parents, even if in rage.
The ending is a happy one, but nearly sounds too fortuitous and barely earned....more

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Feb 25, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

"I am often asked about the wars. And I say that the wars are a waste of human life on both sides and a deep strategic blunder. But I had never sat in a room with a wounded marine. And I needed to do that. But I am no clearer on what the wars mean."

"....for men trying to bring life into the world? Two would be engaged in a fistfight, one would be doing whiskey shots in the corner, and the other would be on the floor in a fetal position, weeping."

"Mothers are immensely forgivable creatures."

"A st...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Denise rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really, really, really loved Jarhead. And I really like Swofford's writing-- he's fast and his voice cuts right through the page.

But I have to wonder where his editor was on this. It seems like what would've been two or three excellent essays (and one of them, about meeting his wife, he read for a Moth Story Hour and was great) were stretched out to make a book. A lot of brain dumping and not enough real, cohesive content for me. A bit of a disappointment.

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Oct 05, 2012 Kay Wright rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A second memoir by the author of Jarhead. Tony Swofford updates us on how he lost all the money he made, ruined his relationships with everyone and finally found some peace with his father. It seems like every author has chosen PTSD to explain the bad behavior of their main characters. Tone has it in spades and we travel with him to redemption.

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Oct 15, 2012 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tony Swofford is a brutally honest and good story teller. Tony joins the military to get away from a bad home life. Returns from the Gulf War, goes to college to become a writer and then writes Jarhead. This becomes a best selling book and movie. He makes obscene amounts of money - is out of control with spending, drinking, drugging and juggling sexual relationships with several women at a time. Not a very likable or dependable person. This book is his journey with coming to terms with his anger...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

a hard one to start, rough to read all about the misery and hurt of one man and trying to come to terms with it in the unhealthiest manner possible. but then there is the end, and his wife and his daughter, and the reconciliation, and it is all beautiful.

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Apr 29, 2012 Christa Parravani rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was fortunate to receive an early copy of this new memoir. It's blunt and beautiful. Swofford had written a book about fathers and sons and love that is full of gusto and courage. He lays himself bare on the page, risking everything. This book is a must read.

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Jul 31, 2012 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was ok....I liked the author and he had some good stories but the whole book was kind of disjointed and jumped all over the place. And the author is obsessed with his anger at his father which seems a bit over the top and the rants get old.

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Jun 15, 2012 Gene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Memoirs our maybe not my genre?.. Its all about him so it should be centered on himself but I kept thinking it was too defensive and trust too much a out him...maybe I shouldn't read memoirs!

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May 29, 2012 Elina rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is about redemption and it's a very personal story of the relationship that the author has with his father. It was well written and never bored me, but just isn't my favourite kind of read.

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Aug 08, 2012 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great. His sprawling, mess of a life is laid bare and at the end he finds forgiveness and love.

http://youtu.be/jSeIIivzuYw

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Dec 12, 2012 Eli rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

He's an unabashed dick and he doesn't apologized. He's completely honest with his infidelities. Liked the book.

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Jul 30, 2012 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fine entertainment. Didn't really do anything particularly interesting.

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Jul 06, 2012 Anne Kadet rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Asshole son writes about his asshole dad.

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Sep 30, 2012 Joyce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Found this really interesting.

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