What do you think?
Rate this book
Based Upon Availability
From the very first page of this stunning novel, readers are drawn into the lives of eight seemingly ordinary women who pass through Manhattan's swanky Four Seasons Hotel. While offering sanctuary to some, solace to others, the hotel captures their darkest moments as they grapple with family, sex, power, love, and death.
Trish obsesses over her best friend's wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner turned wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors' lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children that she insists she's pregnant to her disbelieving husband. And Morgan, the hotel manager--haunted by the memory of her dead sister--is the thread that weaves these women's lives together.
Trish obsesses over her best friend's wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner turned wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors' lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children that she insists she's pregnant to her disbelieving husband. And Morgan, the hotel manager--haunted by the memory of her dead sister--is the thread that weaves these women's lives together.
Hardcover
First published June 8, 2010
7 people are currently reading
285 people want to read
About the author
Alix Strauss
9 books21 followersAlix Strauss is a trend, culture and lifestyle journalist; an award-winning, four-time published author; speaker; and frequent contributor to The New York Times.
Her books include: The Joy of Funerals (St. Martin’s Press & Palagram Press), Based Upon Availability (Harper Collins), and Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous and the Notorious (Harper Collins). She is also the editor of Have I Got a Guy for You (Simon & Schuster), an anthology of mother-coordinated dating horror stories. Her work has been optioned for several TV and film projects.
A media-savvy social satirist, she has been a featured lifestyle, travel, and trend writer on national morning and talk shows including ABC, CBS, CNN, and the Today Show. During the past 25 years she has written over 1500 articles. Her articles, which have appeared in Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Conde Nast Traveler, the Financial Times, Time Magazine, and Departures, among others, and cover a range of topics from trends in beauty, travel, and food to celebrity interviews.
The Joy of Funerals is an Ingram Award winner and was named Best Debut Novel by The New York Resident. Alix was the inaugural “First Chapters” pick, Cosmopolitan Magazine’s new launchpad of fiction excerpts, giving readers exclusive sneak peeks of gripping new work. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in the Primavera Literary Journal, Hampton Shorts Literary Journal, The Idaho Review, Quality Women's Fiction, The Blue Moon Café III, Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, and A Kudzu Christmas. Her short story, “Shrinking Away”, won the David Dornstein Creative Writing Award. She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships from programs such as the Wesleyan Writers Conference, the Skidmore College Writerʼs Institute, the Sarah Lawrence Summer Program, and the Squaw Valleyʼs Screenwritersʼ Summer Program.
Alix lectures extensively and has been a keynote speaker, moderator, or panelist at over 200 conferences, symposiums, seminars, and summits including The Southern Festival of Books, The Northwest Bookfest, The New England’s Writer’s Conference, Wesleyan Writer’s Conference, The 92nd Street Y, New York University, Center for Communications, University of Connecticut, and Columbia University. She was chosen to speak at the National Jewish Book Festival and is on the National Speakers Bureau for Israeli Bonds.
Alix Lives in Manhattan.
Her books include: The Joy of Funerals (St. Martin’s Press & Palagram Press), Based Upon Availability (Harper Collins), and Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous and the Notorious (Harper Collins). She is also the editor of Have I Got a Guy for You (Simon & Schuster), an anthology of mother-coordinated dating horror stories. Her work has been optioned for several TV and film projects.
A media-savvy social satirist, she has been a featured lifestyle, travel, and trend writer on national morning and talk shows including ABC, CBS, CNN, and the Today Show. During the past 25 years she has written over 1500 articles. Her articles, which have appeared in Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Conde Nast Traveler, the Financial Times, Time Magazine, and Departures, among others, and cover a range of topics from trends in beauty, travel, and food to celebrity interviews.
The Joy of Funerals is an Ingram Award winner and was named Best Debut Novel by The New York Resident. Alix was the inaugural “First Chapters” pick, Cosmopolitan Magazine’s new launchpad of fiction excerpts, giving readers exclusive sneak peeks of gripping new work. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in the Primavera Literary Journal, Hampton Shorts Literary Journal, The Idaho Review, Quality Women's Fiction, The Blue Moon Café III, Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, and A Kudzu Christmas. Her short story, “Shrinking Away”, won the David Dornstein Creative Writing Award. She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships from programs such as the Wesleyan Writers Conference, the Skidmore College Writerʼs Institute, the Sarah Lawrence Summer Program, and the Squaw Valleyʼs Screenwritersʼ Summer Program.
Alix lectures extensively and has been a keynote speaker, moderator, or panelist at over 200 conferences, symposiums, seminars, and summits including The Southern Festival of Books, The Northwest Bookfest, The New England’s Writer’s Conference, Wesleyan Writer’s Conference, The 92nd Street Y, New York University, Center for Communications, University of Connecticut, and Columbia University. She was chosen to speak at the National Jewish Book Festival and is on the National Speakers Bureau for Israeli Bonds.
Alix Lives in Manhattan.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
September 21, 2011
I never knew that ladies were so troubled. ALL ladies, apparently.
I'd like to apologize to any ladies that I made feel bad in the past, going back until about high school. I did make fun of girls in elementary school, but I feel that was out of my control. Plus, they weren't ladies yet, therefore they were ripe for parody.
We get, in the mix here, an eating disorder, a sisterly rivalry gone too far, a burnout rockstar, a woman who commits arson, a woman who has a phantom pregnancy, and a woman who is in her mid-50's, stylish, and seems to have her life pretty much together. Oh, and a hotel lady who is dabbling in S&M.
I like a book with unlikable characters, no doubt. I'll read a book about a lady who captures and murders bald eagles for the pure tactile pleasure. But this...I don't know, it felt like a grab bag of lady issues with little stories built around them.
The chronology is tough too. It feels like every woman in this story is at the peak of her life's breakdown at the same time, which is when it starts to feel a little less like a novel and a little more like an M. Knight Shaymamlasaksnfd, uh, god forbid, novel.
I'd like to apologize to any ladies that I made feel bad in the past, going back until about high school. I did make fun of girls in elementary school, but I feel that was out of my control. Plus, they weren't ladies yet, therefore they were ripe for parody.
We get, in the mix here, an eating disorder, a sisterly rivalry gone too far, a burnout rockstar, a woman who commits arson, a woman who has a phantom pregnancy, and a woman who is in her mid-50's, stylish, and seems to have her life pretty much together. Oh, and a hotel lady who is dabbling in S&M.
I like a book with unlikable characters, no doubt. I'll read a book about a lady who captures and murders bald eagles for the pure tactile pleasure. But this...I don't know, it felt like a grab bag of lady issues with little stories built around them.
The chronology is tough too. It feels like every woman in this story is at the peak of her life's breakdown at the same time, which is when it starts to feel a little less like a novel and a little more like an M. Knight Shaymamlasaksnfd, uh, god forbid, novel.
June 23, 2010
Morgan, the hotel manager of Four Seasons, still misses her sister, who died almost twenty-four years ago, and is contemplating breaking up with her methodical boyfriend. As she meets with her clients and customers, interviews applicants and does room searches, she comes across several interesting women, each with her own story to tell. Some of them are not who they appear to be, and most, like her, are looking for some closure to their problems, some happiness and human connection. Through it all, the Four Seasons hotel bears witness to the most trying moments in their lives, as they piece together their issues with family, love, sex and ambition.
Based Upon Availability is a very character-oriented story, featuring eight apparently unrelated or unconnected women, sharing only two common things - the Four Seasons hotel and a disappointment with their life. This book holds testament to the adage that there is more than meets the eye. In the end, a rich and intricate web of life is created, as Alix Strauss tells the story of these eight women and brings them together through an intricate web.
Reading this book was a lot like watching the movie, Vantage Point. In fact, this theme of several narrowly connected people in a story coming together and remaining thus connected, usually works well in a movie. The reader initially sees the world through Morgan's eyes. Having been inside Morgan's head during the first one-third of the book, the reader is also privy to Morgan's thoughts, suspicions and beliefs. And then the camera shifts and starts focusing on a certain piece of this panorama through a different pair of lens. Some things that Morgan saw in passing become the focus and we see how the significance of that event or person changes in light of its new meaning.
I was not too impressed with Morgan's character. I found her very tiresome. She was one of those people who are empathetic on the inside, but appear remote and professional to the people around her. She fails to connect much with anyone on an emotional level. She is understandably upset about being single while nearing her thirty-third birthday, she wants to experience the joy of motherhood, and she is still not over the death of her sister. As she meets a new person, she aches to be a part of that person at some level, and wishes for something that person has, which she is lacking in. When however, that person's story is revealed, we sometimes see a picture so different from what Morgan painted. And I loved this aspect of this book because it is a reminder that we are not always right just because we saw something. It is enlightening to see a different rational explanation for the same picture.
The other characters were a lot more interesting than Morgan. In some queer way, Morgan connects with all of them. Some, like Anne, Trish, and Louise are a prominent fixture in Morgan's thoughts. Anne, who works at Four Seasons and is dating a guy she met on the internet, is fired. Trish wants to hold a gallery in the hotel. Drug-addicted rock star, Louise, is being checked into the hotel by her friend, to clean up her drug addiction. The others are more faint and have an almost cameo-like appearance. Franny is an acquaintance of a man Morgan had drinks with. Sheila comes to her uncle's funeral. Ellen is interviewed by Morgan for an interior deco position. Robin is known to Morgan by face only through certain circumstances that befall Robin's sister.
It was very interesting reading from the perspectives of the other women, and how they come to be connected to Morgan and the Four Seasons hotel. Alix Strauss has brilliantly written the intersecting seven stories, each spanning only a few pages. The long-drawn out narration of Morgan's story, while necessary, bored me ultimately because I couldn't see where it was going. Halfway through her narration, I was already ready for another character to come in focus. While it helped me get an idea of Morgan's troubles, I found all that prose too much to read. Also this isn't exactly a fast read, and I won't recommend you read it fast either. This book is best appreciated when the reader feels the strings holding the different characters together, and looks out for the several hints and appearances of the other characters in each perspective.
I also found that I could easily relate to all the eight women, even though their lives are radically different from mine. Each of them go through the same problems that we are afflicted by at least once. In the end, they all ache to be loved, and the battles they go through are typical of most people.
Based Upon Availability is a very character-oriented story, featuring eight apparently unrelated or unconnected women, sharing only two common things - the Four Seasons hotel and a disappointment with their life. This book holds testament to the adage that there is more than meets the eye. In the end, a rich and intricate web of life is created, as Alix Strauss tells the story of these eight women and brings them together through an intricate web.
Reading this book was a lot like watching the movie, Vantage Point. In fact, this theme of several narrowly connected people in a story coming together and remaining thus connected, usually works well in a movie. The reader initially sees the world through Morgan's eyes. Having been inside Morgan's head during the first one-third of the book, the reader is also privy to Morgan's thoughts, suspicions and beliefs. And then the camera shifts and starts focusing on a certain piece of this panorama through a different pair of lens. Some things that Morgan saw in passing become the focus and we see how the significance of that event or person changes in light of its new meaning.
I was not too impressed with Morgan's character. I found her very tiresome. She was one of those people who are empathetic on the inside, but appear remote and professional to the people around her. She fails to connect much with anyone on an emotional level. She is understandably upset about being single while nearing her thirty-third birthday, she wants to experience the joy of motherhood, and she is still not over the death of her sister. As she meets a new person, she aches to be a part of that person at some level, and wishes for something that person has, which she is lacking in. When however, that person's story is revealed, we sometimes see a picture so different from what Morgan painted. And I loved this aspect of this book because it is a reminder that we are not always right just because we saw something. It is enlightening to see a different rational explanation for the same picture.
The other characters were a lot more interesting than Morgan. In some queer way, Morgan connects with all of them. Some, like Anne, Trish, and Louise are a prominent fixture in Morgan's thoughts. Anne, who works at Four Seasons and is dating a guy she met on the internet, is fired. Trish wants to hold a gallery in the hotel. Drug-addicted rock star, Louise, is being checked into the hotel by her friend, to clean up her drug addiction. The others are more faint and have an almost cameo-like appearance. Franny is an acquaintance of a man Morgan had drinks with. Sheila comes to her uncle's funeral. Ellen is interviewed by Morgan for an interior deco position. Robin is known to Morgan by face only through certain circumstances that befall Robin's sister.
It was very interesting reading from the perspectives of the other women, and how they come to be connected to Morgan and the Four Seasons hotel. Alix Strauss has brilliantly written the intersecting seven stories, each spanning only a few pages. The long-drawn out narration of Morgan's story, while necessary, bored me ultimately because I couldn't see where it was going. Halfway through her narration, I was already ready for another character to come in focus. While it helped me get an idea of Morgan's troubles, I found all that prose too much to read. Also this isn't exactly a fast read, and I won't recommend you read it fast either. This book is best appreciated when the reader feels the strings holding the different characters together, and looks out for the several hints and appearances of the other characters in each perspective.
I also found that I could easily relate to all the eight women, even though their lives are radically different from mine. Each of them go through the same problems that we are afflicted by at least once. In the end, they all ache to be loved, and the battles they go through are typical of most people.
April 7, 2020
Great writing, but more like short stories from the point of view of interlocking characters, which is annoying to me..
May 8, 2010
What a bunch of depressing, dysfunctional characters!! You'd think I'd love this, since I'm a therapist, but I get enough dysfunction at work!!
Based around the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, this book is the story of several women, all tied together by the main character - a manager of the hotel. In the first ten pages, the main character Morgan rifles through people's hotel rooms and has sex with a busboy in the pantry of the hotel's kitchen. I understand feeling at odds with life, but geez lady, get yourself together!! I found most of the characters somewhat despicable, not able to find enough empathy to be able to relate to their behavior...
Still, it's some kind of writing than can evoke this kind of emotion from the reader. I really liked anticipating how each character would be connected to the others, and it was always subtle and not overdone. The book captivated my attention and was an easy read. Think of it as a raunchy, soap opera summer beach read. You'll read it, you'll like it okay -- just don't think you'll expand your world reading this one.
Oh, and I really still want to know who stole Uncle Marty's ashes!!
Based around the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, this book is the story of several women, all tied together by the main character - a manager of the hotel. In the first ten pages, the main character Morgan rifles through people's hotel rooms and has sex with a busboy in the pantry of the hotel's kitchen. I understand feeling at odds with life, but geez lady, get yourself together!! I found most of the characters somewhat despicable, not able to find enough empathy to be able to relate to their behavior...
Still, it's some kind of writing than can evoke this kind of emotion from the reader. I really liked anticipating how each character would be connected to the others, and it was always subtle and not overdone. The book captivated my attention and was an easy read. Think of it as a raunchy, soap opera summer beach read. You'll read it, you'll like it okay -- just don't think you'll expand your world reading this one.
Oh, and I really still want to know who stole Uncle Marty's ashes!!
February 22, 2011
I got this book through the Early Reviewers program here on LibraryThing. The first half of the book is about Morgan - a manager at the Four Seasons hotel in NY. She talks about her job, her dead sister being a part of her life, her parents, how she goes into random rooms at the hotel and steals drugs and other things from folks. She talks about the people she meets and obsesses over. Then the second half of the book are about other ladies who somehow interact with Morgan or someone she knows. And what their lives are about.[return][return]I did not care for Morgan. Well, that's not true. I did not care about her. One way or the other. I never felt sorry, angry, happy, interested about her life and her life choices. I didn't care about any of the characters. I didn't understand them. i didn't want to. The only reason I finished this book was because I could not figure out how or about what would bring resolution. How would it end. When I finished, I kicked myself for wanting to know.
December 17, 2013
it's actually really quite sad that this book went from a great read to absolute confusion for me. I was thoroughly enjoying this book; which is the Morgan half, but I noticed that I was getting pretty far into this book and all the chapters were about Morgan. It's not until chapter 10 that we read a chapter that concentrates on another woman from Morgan's life. By the time some of these chapters come up, I couldn't really place them from Morgan's chapters, and most of the time I just didn't care enough about the women to enjoy what I was reading about them. Chapter 11 was a mess to me, reading in the first person with all the "you say" and "I said"...ugh!!!!And could someone tell me why Morgan was gaunt, and drawn? The author makes a point of writing this but never really addresses it further. When you read the back cover you assume this book is going to cover all of the women's lives fairly equally and I couldn't wait. I don't read fiction very often, but do enjoy a good book, with strong women characters; this was not it!
June 19, 2018
This book broke my heart. Many chick-lit type books are light and empowering. There were times throughout that this novel felt faux-“empowering”. I know life is not simple, that it’s messy and confusing, yet this collection of women seemed to be the epitome of chaos. I was hoping for redemption for all of them, yet never received it. It was one of those situations where I felt that I HAD to finish the book...yet it didn’t seem worth it. :/
If we could do halves, my rating would have been 3.5, yet because it’s only by whole stars, I selected 3. It was not on par with a 4 star book...at least most 4 star books have redemption!
If we could do halves, my rating would have been 3.5, yet because it’s only by whole stars, I selected 3. It was not on par with a 4 star book...at least most 4 star books have redemption!
November 12, 2020
One depressing story after another. It's a 2 star only because the writing was fairly good.
January 11, 2021
some stories were better than others. i liked the story about the woman who thought she was pregnant
July 24, 2022
Based on Availability is a well written novel and builds a good story. My issue with the novel is every character in the novel is unlikable and morally flawed.
June 30, 2010
The Four Seasons is one of the luxury places that evokes images of Beautiful People - good looking, wealthy, glamorous. Based on Availability is an unusual novel that tells the stories of seemingly unconnected women who pass through Manhattan's Four Seasons Hotel. Here are some of the characters that you meet:
* Morgan, the hotel manager, is the dominant character in the novel who is somehow linked to many of the main characters. Glamorous, efficient, and upwardly mobile, few people are aware that Morgan is haunted by the childhood death of her older sister and the extent to which this impacts her every day life. As the manager of the Four Seasons, Morgan is often asked to comp or discount meals, rooms, drinks and to fix all sorts of emergencies. She has her own risky ways of handling the disappointments and stresses of her personal life. But what she really wants is a close female friend, someone to be as close as a sister;
* Trish is the daughter of celebrity parents: a writer and an artist. Her parents have been busy with their careers and social lives all her life. The breakup with her boyfriend hit her hard, but Trish is most upset about the recent changes to her best friend Olive. Trish and Olive had been as close as sisters for as long as they could remember. But now that Olive has found love and lost close to fifty pounds, and has developed a taste for dangerous diversions;
* Louise, an old rock star who once partied with Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Now, her glamorous friend in PR is helping Louise "dry out" and she's opting for the Four Seasons because of the staff's discretion and personal service;
* Franny is a Southern girl and a recent transplant to Manhattan. Franny's job means that she hovers on the fringes of celebrity: She's the tv show stand-in who slips into a celebrity's seat during award shows or TV specials to prevent unsightly "empty seats." Franny "participated silently at game shows, asked questions to guests on morning talk shows, and laughed on command at sitcoms. She contributed on focus groups, helped paper the house of previewing musicals, and ate at an array of new restaurants." While the list of events and places make for good stories and small talk, Franny misses a sense of belonging and friendship -- she feels deeply isolated in the Big City. She hopes to find friends and connections with her neighbors as they share a traumatic experience;
* Anne is single, lonely, and has an obsessive compulsive disorder. Things come to a head as she faces deep disappointment in her love life and professional life;
* Catherine is an only child and married to a After a history of difficult pregnancies and miscarriages, Catherine's overwhelming desire is for a child of her own. As this fixation begins to rule her life, it takes a toll on her marriage;
* Robin is a Manhattan-based realtor and she's been looking forward to spending time with her self-centered and power-tripping older sister, Vicki. They spend the day together shopping on Fifth Avenue and luxuriating in the spa, and Robin realizes something critical about their relationship; and finally,
* Sheila is a teacher living in one of the coveted rent-controlled apartments in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Like many in the City, she has her routine of morning coffee before the start of another day. Sheila finds unexpected sweetness with a flirtation with a charming stranger.
In Based upon Availability: A Novel, Alix Strauss skillfully incorporates her knowledge as a lifestyle writer as she recreates this world of privilege and luxury. Some characters are more compelling than others, I was most sympathetic to Trish. I could relate to her feeling that life was happening so fast -- that the change to the 30s seems so sudden. And it's not just that our bodies seem to betray us. There's the sadness and anxiety as we find that our professional lives and personal lives haven't kept up with expectations. While each of the characters had some particular vulnerability that made them interesting, there were other times when a character's myopia made me want to shake them. I'm sure that Strauss had intended this to be so. How much do you look for likability in the characters that you read about?
Overall, Based on Availability is an interesting glimpse into the lives of beautiful and dissatisfied people in New York. If you're fond of New York stories or contemporary women's literature, I think you might enjoy Alix Strauss's Based upon Availability: A Novel.
ISBN-10: 0061845264 - Paperback $13.99
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (June 8, 2010), 352 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
June 29, 2010
The storied Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan is the backdrop for a unique novel about the secrets that women carry. Based Upon Availability by Alix Strauss ties eight women's stories into the hotel, with Morgan, a sales manager at the hotel, at the center of the story.
Morgan's life seems to revolve around a tragedy that occurred in her youth. Her older sister Dale died when she was just eleven years old, after a long, protracted illness. Her sister's death has held the center of Morgan's life. Morgan is angry when no one, not even her parents, remembers the anniversary of her sister's death.
Morgan has idealized a relationship with her sister, imagining all they would have shared had Dale lived: boyfriends, husbands, being an aunt to her sister's children. This imagined sisterly relationship is contrasted with an actual sisterly relationship between Robin, a real estate agent, and her sister Vicki.
Vicki is horrible to her sister, treating her worse than one would treat an enemy. She uses Robin, who only wants a close relationship with her sister. Vicki tortures Robin incessantly. The tables are turned in a horrible incident that takes place in the hotel. One has to wonder if Dale had lived, would their relationship be more like the idealized one Morgan imagines or would they have a dysfunctional sisterly relationship as Vicki and Robin do.
All of the women harbor secrets, and try hard to hide their dysfunction. Morgan surreptitiously takes room keys from the hotel, and during the day, lets herself into rooms to rifle through guests's belongings. She imagines the kind of life they lead, and when she finds a sexual item, she steals it, hoping no one reports it missing.
Anne works at the hotel and desperately tries to hide her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Through online dating, she meets an artist who works with "found objects", and he proves to be her undoing.
Franny was my favorite character. She is in her late thirties, a Southern belle who relocated to Manhattan. She works as a seat filler for award shows and Broadway openings, an exciting, though lonely, occupation. At the end of an exhilarating evening,
"getting on a bus or sitting alone in the back seat of a cab dressed in other's people's gowns she'd purchased at consignment shops and on EBay, with no one's hand to grasp, was devastatingly lonely. At home, though she could sit anywhere she wanted, she never found a comfortable spot, a place where her body could just relax."
Sometimes when novels had many characters, they can all blend together in the reader's mind, but Strauss excels at creating unique, individual women with words like that. Of Honor Kraus, a high-powered "PR icon to the stars", Strauss writes "she wears success like the wash boys in the kitchen wear their cheap cologne-strong and powerful-". From those words, you get who Honor is right away.
All of these women are sad, and their relationships with themselves and those they love is tenuous. Ellen wants so badly to be pregnant that she convinces herself she is, driving her husband away. Morgan wants a sisterly relationship with Trish, a gallery owner, who has a complicated relationship with Olive, an artist. Franny falls for a neighbor, and wants deeply to be a part of all of her neighbors's lives.
This is not a happy book. But the women in it will haunt you, as you ponder what secrets the women you know harbor within themselves. It may even cause you to look inwards at the secrets you keep about yourself.
Morgan's life seems to revolve around a tragedy that occurred in her youth. Her older sister Dale died when she was just eleven years old, after a long, protracted illness. Her sister's death has held the center of Morgan's life. Morgan is angry when no one, not even her parents, remembers the anniversary of her sister's death.
Morgan has idealized a relationship with her sister, imagining all they would have shared had Dale lived: boyfriends, husbands, being an aunt to her sister's children. This imagined sisterly relationship is contrasted with an actual sisterly relationship between Robin, a real estate agent, and her sister Vicki.
Vicki is horrible to her sister, treating her worse than one would treat an enemy. She uses Robin, who only wants a close relationship with her sister. Vicki tortures Robin incessantly. The tables are turned in a horrible incident that takes place in the hotel. One has to wonder if Dale had lived, would their relationship be more like the idealized one Morgan imagines or would they have a dysfunctional sisterly relationship as Vicki and Robin do.
All of the women harbor secrets, and try hard to hide their dysfunction. Morgan surreptitiously takes room keys from the hotel, and during the day, lets herself into rooms to rifle through guests's belongings. She imagines the kind of life they lead, and when she finds a sexual item, she steals it, hoping no one reports it missing.
Anne works at the hotel and desperately tries to hide her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Through online dating, she meets an artist who works with "found objects", and he proves to be her undoing.
Franny was my favorite character. She is in her late thirties, a Southern belle who relocated to Manhattan. She works as a seat filler for award shows and Broadway openings, an exciting, though lonely, occupation. At the end of an exhilarating evening,
"getting on a bus or sitting alone in the back seat of a cab dressed in other's people's gowns she'd purchased at consignment shops and on EBay, with no one's hand to grasp, was devastatingly lonely. At home, though she could sit anywhere she wanted, she never found a comfortable spot, a place where her body could just relax."
Sometimes when novels had many characters, they can all blend together in the reader's mind, but Strauss excels at creating unique, individual women with words like that. Of Honor Kraus, a high-powered "PR icon to the stars", Strauss writes "she wears success like the wash boys in the kitchen wear their cheap cologne-strong and powerful-". From those words, you get who Honor is right away.
All of these women are sad, and their relationships with themselves and those they love is tenuous. Ellen wants so badly to be pregnant that she convinces herself she is, driving her husband away. Morgan wants a sisterly relationship with Trish, a gallery owner, who has a complicated relationship with Olive, an artist. Franny falls for a neighbor, and wants deeply to be a part of all of her neighbors's lives.
This is not a happy book. But the women in it will haunt you, as you ponder what secrets the women you know harbor within themselves. It may even cause you to look inwards at the secrets you keep about yourself.
August 14, 2010
The next time I stay in a hotel all of my belongings -- even the toothpaste -- will have a really loud alarm attached to them!!
Why? Because a character named Morgan in Based Upon Availability has STICKY FINGERS!
Upon first glance, I thought this was going to be a light read. Look at that cover. It's fairly light and cheerful with those flowers on it. But those windows are closed, hiding what's inside -- a dark and humorous novel by Alix Strauss.
Four Seasons hotel manager Morgan has long been haunted by the death of her sister Dale. She never got the chance to say goodbye. Fearing she was too young, Morgan's parents did not allow her to attend Dale's funeral. Ever since, Morgan has been searching for the human connection that she lost. Long looks at Dale's photos and reminiscing about the sound of her voice and her smell aren't enough. She makes excuses to see gallery owner Trish. A friendship with Trish allows Morgan to imagine how life with Dale could have been. Giggles and gossip over lunch, the anticipation of a wedding and maybe having a niece or a nephew. But it's just a fantasy.
When friendship isn't enough, Morgan goes on "room checks" to relieve hotel guests of their property. They won't notice small things missing? Who is going to miss a pill or two? But one of her larger thefts, a sex toy, I have a hard time believing that wouldn't be missed!!
Along the way we meet other women who are searching for that same human connection. A washed up rock star Louise A.KA. Lou who comes to the Four Seasons to dry out. Trish is obsessed with her weight and speaks of herself in the third person. Ellen badly wants a child to save her marriage, no matter the consequences. Anne desperately wants to be free of OCD. Robin's sister, Vicki, unlike Dale is alive but their relationship is dead, leading Robin to do something strange and funny! I won't say what, but it involves handcuffs and Kahlua!
The ties that bind them all are Morgan and the Four Seasons hotel. Strauss' writing is smart and often unpredictable. This is the first book I've read where a character feels empowered by a sex toy, I just wasn't expecting to read that. I've never been to the Four Seasons (not in my budget), but Alix Strauss weaves together an often sympathetic, funny and dark portrait of what could be going on there.
Rating: Superb
Notes: I received a copy of the novel from the publisher at the request of the author. For more information on Alix Strauss, visit: http://www.alixstrauss.com/
Why? Because a character named Morgan in Based Upon Availability has STICKY FINGERS!
Upon first glance, I thought this was going to be a light read. Look at that cover. It's fairly light and cheerful with those flowers on it. But those windows are closed, hiding what's inside -- a dark and humorous novel by Alix Strauss.
Four Seasons hotel manager Morgan has long been haunted by the death of her sister Dale. She never got the chance to say goodbye. Fearing she was too young, Morgan's parents did not allow her to attend Dale's funeral. Ever since, Morgan has been searching for the human connection that she lost. Long looks at Dale's photos and reminiscing about the sound of her voice and her smell aren't enough. She makes excuses to see gallery owner Trish. A friendship with Trish allows Morgan to imagine how life with Dale could have been. Giggles and gossip over lunch, the anticipation of a wedding and maybe having a niece or a nephew. But it's just a fantasy.
When friendship isn't enough, Morgan goes on "room checks" to relieve hotel guests of their property. They won't notice small things missing? Who is going to miss a pill or two? But one of her larger thefts, a sex toy, I have a hard time believing that wouldn't be missed!!
Along the way we meet other women who are searching for that same human connection. A washed up rock star Louise A.KA. Lou who comes to the Four Seasons to dry out. Trish is obsessed with her weight and speaks of herself in the third person. Ellen badly wants a child to save her marriage, no matter the consequences. Anne desperately wants to be free of OCD. Robin's sister, Vicki, unlike Dale is alive but their relationship is dead, leading Robin to do something strange and funny! I won't say what, but it involves handcuffs and Kahlua!
The ties that bind them all are Morgan and the Four Seasons hotel. Strauss' writing is smart and often unpredictable. This is the first book I've read where a character feels empowered by a sex toy, I just wasn't expecting to read that. I've never been to the Four Seasons (not in my budget), but Alix Strauss weaves together an often sympathetic, funny and dark portrait of what could be going on there.
Rating: Superb
Notes: I received a copy of the novel from the publisher at the request of the author. For more information on Alix Strauss, visit: http://www.alixstrauss.com/
September 19, 2016
Well, if you ever thought your life was messed up, read this book and feel better about yourself. I liked the way the story was written though and the intertwining of the characters was interesting and clever.
June 3, 2010
The lives of several lonely young women intersect at New York City's upscale hotel The Four Seasons.
Unfortunately, this book starts out a lot (as in, you know, a lot) stronger than it finishes. Yeah, that's a pretty common problem in novels, but it's especially pronounced here. The structure of the book is awfully strange; it starts out as a first-person narration by Morgan, a Four Seasons manager, and everything is fine. But about halfway through the book, the point of view changes (with one chapter narrated in the second person -- a technique that stopped being interesting, oh, 20 years ago right after Jay McInerney did it), and we get big chunks of narrative that seem like short stories plunked down in the middle of Morgan's novel. This structure might work pretty well if it seemed more surefooted, especially in a book about tangentially-related lives in a city where it's easy to feel that everyone but you has a fascinating and fulfilling life and everybody seems to envy everybody else.
But in this case, I'm afraid it just seemed like poor planning; we're left wondering what in the hell happened to Morgan while we're suddenly reading a long chapter about a character we vaguely remember hearing about 50 pages ago. And while the situations presented are actually fairly interesting -- one episode begins with a hotel guest lashed to a bed, and the situation that led her there is far from pedestrian -- none of the characters, with the possible exception of Morgan, is all that engaging; they seem more like shorthand than actual characters.
Very disappointing, as I was really enjoying the book until about page 100. Oh well. (Would be two and a half stars if we were able to give half stars.)
Unfortunately, this book starts out a lot (as in, you know, a lot) stronger than it finishes. Yeah, that's a pretty common problem in novels, but it's especially pronounced here. The structure of the book is awfully strange; it starts out as a first-person narration by Morgan, a Four Seasons manager, and everything is fine. But about halfway through the book, the point of view changes (with one chapter narrated in the second person -- a technique that stopped being interesting, oh, 20 years ago right after Jay McInerney did it), and we get big chunks of narrative that seem like short stories plunked down in the middle of Morgan's novel. This structure might work pretty well if it seemed more surefooted, especially in a book about tangentially-related lives in a city where it's easy to feel that everyone but you has a fascinating and fulfilling life and everybody seems to envy everybody else.
But in this case, I'm afraid it just seemed like poor planning; we're left wondering what in the hell happened to Morgan while we're suddenly reading a long chapter about a character we vaguely remember hearing about 50 pages ago. And while the situations presented are actually fairly interesting -- one episode begins with a hotel guest lashed to a bed, and the situation that led her there is far from pedestrian -- none of the characters, with the possible exception of Morgan, is all that engaging; they seem more like shorthand than actual characters.
Very disappointing, as I was really enjoying the book until about page 100. Oh well. (Would be two and a half stars if we were able to give half stars.)
May 7, 2011
I really would have liked to give this book four stars, as I ended up liking it more than I expected to. Usually when there are multiple protagonists, and the story is told from several different perspectives, it proves to be an enriching experience overall. However, it does depend on how well the novel gels together, and in this case Alix Strauss had a great idea that wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
The main impediment in this novel is how the chapters (or protagonists) were ordered or grouped. Morgan is the character with whom we spend the most time, which is great because she is the connecting character for everyone else. However, all of her chapters save one are placed in the first half of the novel, and then the last chapter is devoted to her. I do think that beginning and end with her was an excellent way to bookend the story, but when I started into the intervening chapters between Morgan (first half) and Morgan (last chapter), I found that I had forgotten some of the more crucial details that I needed to identify how the women connected, and flipping back to locate the correlating chapter so I could jog my memory was distracting & somewhat time consuming.
I love books that are structured with multiple protagonists, but I think in this instance the story would been much more streamlined had Strauss paired the chapters dealing with the same characters together, or if not directly together, in a meaningful order that maximized the connections and allowed for the reader to have a fluent reading experience. This is my only experience with Alix Strauss so far, and I enjoyed her writing, so I am hopeful that reading other of her works will show some improved continuity in her stories.
The main impediment in this novel is how the chapters (or protagonists) were ordered or grouped. Morgan is the character with whom we spend the most time, which is great because she is the connecting character for everyone else. However, all of her chapters save one are placed in the first half of the novel, and then the last chapter is devoted to her. I do think that beginning and end with her was an excellent way to bookend the story, but when I started into the intervening chapters between Morgan (first half) and Morgan (last chapter), I found that I had forgotten some of the more crucial details that I needed to identify how the women connected, and flipping back to locate the correlating chapter so I could jog my memory was distracting & somewhat time consuming.
I love books that are structured with multiple protagonists, but I think in this instance the story would been much more streamlined had Strauss paired the chapters dealing with the same characters together, or if not directly together, in a meaningful order that maximized the connections and allowed for the reader to have a fluent reading experience. This is my only experience with Alix Strauss so far, and I enjoyed her writing, so I am hopeful that reading other of her works will show some improved continuity in her stories.
January 3, 2017
Not long into Based Upon Availability the main character, Morgan, a manager at a ritzy Manhattan hotel, declares that she is "a good girl...loyal and honest," a statement that would have been easier to believe had she not already made a habit of stealing items, primarily prescription medication and sex toys, from guests' rooms, coerced a subordinate into having sex with her and lied to her boyfriend. Morgan is self-involved, full of self-pity and so fragile that a careless remark can send her into a tailspin.
In the second half of the book, the story follows several different women whose lives intersected in some way with Morgan's. It is interesting to see small events seen from another angle, but really, all these women are really Morgan. There's an aging rock star version of Morgan, a frowsy, OCD version, a Morgan with a living sister, etc...each as desperate to be taken care of as the one before. Which may be why the book lost me early on; not one of these characters is the slightest bit resilient and each sees a husband to support her, or a baby or the chance to be a little girl again, as what she needs to be happy. Despite their good careers and financial stability, despite the drug use and the endless smoking, these girls are all the anti-feminist ideal.
Based Upon Availability is written well enough, but there were coincidences and actions that strained credibility. I usually favor unlikeable protagonists, but there was no forward motion in their emotional lives and many of the vignettes ended abruptly and without resolution.
In the second half of the book, the story follows several different women whose lives intersected in some way with Morgan's. It is interesting to see small events seen from another angle, but really, all these women are really Morgan. There's an aging rock star version of Morgan, a frowsy, OCD version, a Morgan with a living sister, etc...each as desperate to be taken care of as the one before. Which may be why the book lost me early on; not one of these characters is the slightest bit resilient and each sees a husband to support her, or a baby or the chance to be a little girl again, as what she needs to be happy. Despite their good careers and financial stability, despite the drug use and the endless smoking, these girls are all the anti-feminist ideal.
Based Upon Availability is written well enough, but there were coincidences and actions that strained credibility. I usually favor unlikeable protagonists, but there was no forward motion in their emotional lives and many of the vignettes ended abruptly and without resolution.
June 16, 2012
Another one of those simple stories where it's the location that all the characters have in common, not each other.
Story takes place in a hotel and half the book was about the hotel manager and her personal life and dealing with co-workers as well as clients at the hotel. All the other stories were also about girls too, a co-worker, a client, family. It was interesting how it all connected, which I hate to fall into that trap, but I like stories like that. I like that it isn't totally obvious how the characters connect when you first start each chapter or section but by the end it revels it or you can guess before the revel. I like trying to guess.
A simple read, but I like stuff about hotels as my sister used to work at one, so it's interesting to learn the ins and outs out of something you rarely see behind the scenes of. This book wasn't too detailed and of course, it is a work of fiction, so who knows what really could be real or not.
Story takes place in a hotel and half the book was about the hotel manager and her personal life and dealing with co-workers as well as clients at the hotel. All the other stories were also about girls too, a co-worker, a client, family. It was interesting how it all connected, which I hate to fall into that trap, but I like stories like that. I like that it isn't totally obvious how the characters connect when you first start each chapter or section but by the end it revels it or you can guess before the revel. I like trying to guess.
A simple read, but I like stuff about hotels as my sister used to work at one, so it's interesting to learn the ins and outs out of something you rarely see behind the scenes of. This book wasn't too detailed and of course, it is a work of fiction, so who knows what really could be real or not.
February 17, 2016
First let me be fair by saying I didn't finish this book. Maybe it got better.
This was a book club book so I tried to read it, but only made it about 50 pages in.
There was no story problem or inciting incident. I felt no reason to read past what I did. I simply didn't care what happened to Morgan. It was just following her day to day messed up life. She was old enough to have dealt with her issues by the time this book started. There was no spark to making her issues worse. She just came across as sad and pathetic.
I didn't get far enough to learn anything about the other characters.
Someone else in my book club finished the book and said it didn't get any better, so I decided not to finish.
However, the writing was well done. If you read for that, then you might like this book. I wouldn't call it awful or terrible, it just wasn't for me. I didn't connect with the story. But them maybe I missed something.
This was a book club book so I tried to read it, but only made it about 50 pages in.
There was no story problem or inciting incident. I felt no reason to read past what I did. I simply didn't care what happened to Morgan. It was just following her day to day messed up life. She was old enough to have dealt with her issues by the time this book started. There was no spark to making her issues worse. She just came across as sad and pathetic.
I didn't get far enough to learn anything about the other characters.
Someone else in my book club finished the book and said it didn't get any better, so I decided not to finish.
However, the writing was well done. If you read for that, then you might like this book. I wouldn't call it awful or terrible, it just wasn't for me. I didn't connect with the story. But them maybe I missed something.
July 30, 2010
I enjoyed reading the beginning of the book so much that I stayed up late just to read a little more. I finished the book the next day with disappointment. A lot of the writing was great, but some of it was painfully trite. Particularly the story about the woman who wanted so badly to be pregnant. Everything leading up to the end of that story was fine, but the ending was SO cliche. I would have written that ending myself in creative writing 101 and been very smug about how clever it was, without realizing anyone anywhere could write the same ending. (To be fair, I could never have written the first part of the story that well). Anne's story was the most interesting to me, because I pitied her so much.
I couldn't stomach reading the Fran and Lou stories.
I couldn't stomach reading the Fran and Lou stories.
July 24, 2010
I've been having a hard time staying focused on what I'm reading these days, so I need something that will interest me right away and the whole way through. This book did that, but the reason I didn't give it a higher rating is because it left me unsatisfied. Each chapter of this book focuses on a different woman, and each one was really interesting, but you don't know what happens to them - the stories of each woman are left unfinished. I thought that it would all be tied up in the end, but not everything was.
May 8, 2011
Quick read, which was good because it pretty much sucked. Supposedly these women's lives all had some sort of connection to one hotel (and thus each other?) but the individual stories really didn't fit together (some seemed totally pointless and many were just plain weird!) and most left you hanging with no real conclusion or closure.
I'm on a string of bad books. I need a good one - stat! (PS - ever wondered that meaning behind "stat"? I did, so I just looked it up - it comes from the latin word "statim" which means immediately
I'm on a string of bad books. I need a good one - stat! (PS - ever wondered that meaning behind "stat"? I did, so I just looked it up - it comes from the latin word "statim" which means immediately
August 12, 2016
Had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. Strauss is a great storyteller, but all of the characters are extremely flawed and there's an undercurrent of bleakness and depression throughout each storyline. (If you're feeling down, this is not the book for you!)
At times I was tempted to stop reading and pick up another book, but then I would wonder what would happen next to each character. It was also interesting to see how all of the characters were linked together through their stays at one hotel.
At times I was tempted to stop reading and pick up another book, but then I would wonder what would happen next to each character. It was also interesting to see how all of the characters were linked together through their stays at one hotel.
August 8, 2015
2.5 stars.
Great prose; I really liked the author's choice of words in several places. Unfortunately the plot did not hang together very well. The description of "intertwined stories" was a bit misleading, as the first half was all Morgan and the second half was other people who simply plugged into Morgan's narrative. Sure, the stories were interesting, but it didn't flow well to me. And there were a few too many editing mistakes for me to overlook (there were several "vile of coke" mishaps).
Great prose; I really liked the author's choice of words in several places. Unfortunately the plot did not hang together very well. The description of "intertwined stories" was a bit misleading, as the first half was all Morgan and the second half was other people who simply plugged into Morgan's narrative. Sure, the stories were interesting, but it didn't flow well to me. And there were a few too many editing mistakes for me to overlook (there were several "vile of coke" mishaps).
August 17, 2010
I liked the way the individual stories intertwined in this book but found some of the stories quite disturbing which is probably typical of mental illness but not something I typically read and did not expect in a book about the Four Seasons! It was sad and humbling to watch these women painfully live their lives. It was almost painful to read about how broken these people were, to see them caught in lives that had no meaning.
October 24, 2010
The first portion of this very odd book focuses on Morgan, a manager at the Four Seasons hotel, and her encounters with other women who come to the hotel. The second portion looks more in detail at what brings those women to the Four Seasons. While their stories are interesting, they are disjointed and while there are many overlapping connections among the stories, they don't really seem to connect in any substantial way. The ending becomes less than satisfying.
June 5, 2011
An interesting look at the lives of women who intersect at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City. Short stories about each of the women explored form the core of this novel, and it is interesting to see how their lives weave together. However, the conclusion left some story lines unresolved and some of the characters lacked the depth of others. Overall, I found this novel to be an interesting read, but not a great one.
July 16, 2011
A mindless and quick read. Not the worst book I have picked up in a hurry at the library--and I'm not ashamed I chose it because I kinda like the title--but really not meant for more than the beach.
Just finished this and actually enjoyed it a lot. It is the story of various rooms at the NYC Four Seasons Hotel based on the women who stay there, what they are going through, and how their lives are all connected in some way. Perfect for the beach or a long plane ride.
Just finished this and actually enjoyed it a lot. It is the story of various rooms at the NYC Four Seasons Hotel based on the women who stay there, what they are going through, and how their lives are all connected in some way. Perfect for the beach or a long plane ride.
March 7, 2011
I'm normally not a huge fan of books with more than one main character from whom the perspective rotates, especially one with 4-5 characters... but these characters were all so intertwined, and the closeness of which they were tied together was revealed the more you read. It was hard to put down! I loved it.
August 17, 2011
I had trouble reading this book, mainly because the beginning focused on one character, Morgan, a Four Seasons Hotel manager, who sexually preys on the hotel staff and enters customers rooms without permission. Not a likeable or admirable character in any sense. I did not get past the first 30 pages.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews