Ludwig Bemelmans—legendary bon vivant and raconteur, and author of the Madeline series as well as the surprise success of 2004, Hotel Bemelman...
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Oct 07, 2009
Coldsoup753
rated it: 
This is a charming little book of short essays by Ludwig Bemelmans drawn from the lifetime he spent working in the entertainment and hospitality industries. I think the jacket bio gives an accurate idea of what to expect from this book: “Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) wrote more than forty books, including the beloved Madeline books. He wrote for Hollywood, owned restaurants, designed sets for Broadway, and painted everything from magazine covers to hotel frescos. Born in the Austrian Tyrol, he w
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Apr 11, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
This book is a collection of short essays/stories from Bemelmans that were not written to be sequential, connected, or cumulative. This makes for perfect reading for someone like me who has been finding it difficult to nail down time to focus on a book for more than 10 minutes at a time or more than two days in a row. I could pick it up, sample a light story, fall asleep, and not feel badly if I didn't return to the book for a week and a half.
Beyond that, the book was good fun. I More...
Beyond that, the book was good fun. I More...
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Sep 06, 2009
Lisa
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This book started out charming and became even better. "Little Bit and the America" was one of the most amusing stories I've ever read, I loved "Prison Visit," and the last two stories were fabulous too -- the first made me tear up, and the second made me crack up. Bemelmans describes scenes and people with a sharp, quirky eye and a great affection for all. His famous children's books about Madeline are certainly classics, but I don't understand why his other books (like this
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Sep 17, 2007
Georgia
rated it:
Bemelmans, best know for writing and illustration of the Madeline books, was raised in the Austrian Tirol and worked in his family's hotel. As a scrappy young man he followed his wayward father to America with excellent hospitality references and secured a job at the Ritz-Carlton in New York. This volume of vignettes is divided into three parts: Childhood, Work, and Play. His quirky, eccentric childhood in the Tirol with his governess, his exagerrated, if not fully fictionalized, exploits and ex
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Dec 12, 2008
Claire
rated it: 
This is a charming collection of essays by the same man who created the children's book character Madeleine and decorated the walls of the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis in NYC. He's had quite a life and is able to tell about the good and bad in a way that is classy and effervescent.
Mar 24, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it:
My friend, Elizabeth, lent me this book and I loved reading this book. It is all about the life and times of Ludwig Bemelmans, the author of the Madeline books. He was the kind of man who enjoyed the finer things in life but had to slog away in the hotel industry for many years before he got to do that. Bemelmans was adventurous and pretty wild as a young man and all of his exploits make a pretty interesting read.
Mar 22, 2008
This book is the companion to Hotel Bemelmans. From what I can tell, the publisher took a bunch of out of print Bemelmans books and mashed them together in a vaguely coherent way. Nevertheless, Bemelmans is delightful and I recommend these books for reading in bed (especially if you have someone to read them to).
Nov 23, 2007
Julie
rated it:
I really loved some of the stories, they were fun - 5 star quality :). However, there were many that were a little dull and not as funny.
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