Kiss in the Hotel / Joseph Conrad and Other Stories

by Howard Norman

In this collection, Norman discloses a unique talent for capturing the essence of ordinary people, the fingerprint swirl that makes each of us distinctive. In the title story, a careless man who is booted out of the RCAF for having stupidly caused a training plane to crash falls in love with a woman at a kissing booth who refuses to kiss him when he identifies himself. His unrequited passion motivates him for the rest of his life. "Whatever Lola Wants" is about Harry, an uprooted sound engineer, who presently runs a drive-in movie in Vermont. His wife Lola, a one-time bit player, wants to see the movie she once made in Hollywood. Harry gets a copy, and though it is mid-winter and snowing, runs it for Lola's birthday. In this story, as in others, Norman shows us the small victories that may be snatched from defeat. - Library Journal

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Howard A. Norman (born 1949), is an American award-winning writer and educator. Most of his short stories and novels are set in Canada's Maritime Provinces. He has written several translations of Algonquin, Cree, Eskimo, and Inuit folklore. His books have been translated into 12 languages.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection of seven short stories by the author of "The Bird Artist" and "The Museum Guard". Many of the stories feature one of Howard Norman's quirky, unmarried, 'male in his 20s or 30s' narrators. In his novels, these characters have the opportunity to grow on, and charm, the reader - this is less the case within the confines of the short story, so that often what comes through is just the deliberate oddness, with less of the charm.

I found the title story, in which the main protagonist never transcends his deliberate eccentricity, to be the least successful among the seven included in this book. "Old Swimmers", with its alienated teenager and geriatric survivors of a torpedoed ferry, was also little more than the quirkiness of its characters. "Milk Train", in which an engineer considers his life while waiting for rescue in the aftermath of a train crash, seemed pointless, as it lacked any kind of resolution.

I did enjoy the remaining four stories: "Jenny Aloo", in which an Eskimo woman believes the spirit of her son has been trapped in a jukebox, "Laughing and Crying" (a young teenaged boy's confusion following his parents' divorce), "Whatever Lola Wants" (a man's special 50th birthday gift to his wife), and - the best in the book, IMO - "Catching Heat", in which a racing announcer describes his sadness at the loss of his girlfriend to a jockey.

As I said, a mixed bag. But the four best stories are really good. Norman stays on my list of interesting writers to look out for.

[Alexis]

I picked this up with a bunch of other books someone had put out with their trash in a clear bag. This person liked slim books that had some relation to Vermont.

[James Frase-White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, picked up from a discard pile at the library, is found treasure. The author had inscribed it, which drew me in, with a promise of stories from this region. Inside was a tour of Canada, into occupations of which I have only peripheral knowledge and emotions I'd not touched. He takes steps that returns the reader (at least me) back into a childhood frame of mind. These are masterful tales and I look forward to reading more of Norman's work. If you can find this collection, pick it up, and take a journey, from the coldest north to the Atlantic coast, and also find out, maybe, what Lola wants.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one today! A collection of short stories and the last Howard Norman fiction book I could find. Very entertaining and interesting stories of people in all sorts of situations. LOVE it! It was fun to read short stories for a change.

[Doris Ray]

The usual Howard Norman Nova Scotia love affair!