January Book Discussion: Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky
- January 29 · 6:30 PM
Heads in Beds: Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky
In the tradition of Kitchen Confidential and Waiter Rant, a rollicking, eye-opening, fantastically indiscreet memoir of a life spent (and misspent) in the hotel industry.
Amazon: Heads in Beds is a funny, authentic, and irreverent chronicle of the highs and lows of hotel life, told by a keenly observant insider who’s seen it all. Prepare to be amused, shocked, and amazed as he spills the unwritten code of the bellhops, the antics that go on in the valet parking garage, the housekeeping department’s dirty little secrets—not to mention the shameless activities of the guests, who are rarely on their best behavior. Prepare to be moved, too, by his candor about what it’s like to toil in a highly demanding service industry at the luxury level, where people expect to get what they pay for (and often a whole lot more). Employees are poorly paid and frequently abused by coworkers and guests alike, and maintaining a semblance of sanity is a daily challenge.
http://www.amazon.com/Heads-Beds-Reckless-So-Called-Hospitality/dp/0385535635
Booklist: Comparisons to Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential (2000) are inevitable but not entirely accurate. Yes, both Tomsky and Bourdain purport to expose the underbelly of service industries with which most readers are familiar, hotels and restaurants. But where Bourdain is all rock ’n’ roll, egotistical bluster, Tomsky is surprisingly earnest and sympathetic; there are, after all, no television programs called Top Desk Clerk. He wants your respect, not your adulation. Sure, he tosses off a few requisite f-bombs, instructs readers on how to steal from hotel minibars, and name-drops Brian Wilson, of the Beach Boys, more so because he seems to feel the genre demands it. Indeed, it would be easy to pen a book about crazy hotel guests. But this memoir succeeds, instead, in humanizing the people who park our cars, clean our hotel rooms, and carry our luggage. You will never not tip housekeeping or your bellhop again. Tomsky fell into hotel work and proved to be rather good at it; the same can be said for his writing. --Patty Wetli
***PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING***
~We will be located in the front room.
~Please be courteous by ordering food and drinks at the venue.
~THERE IS A $1 FEE for this event.
~RSVPs will be open until midnight the day before the event. I will also send out my cell number to those attending.
Looking forward to seeing you there! ~Hazel
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Jess
I won't be able to make it. I'm stuck at work and don't know what time I will leaving. I'm so sorry, I was really looking forward to meeting you all.
January 29
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Sara Hussein Said
QUESTION: I'm a new member and I just wanted to all I'd you guys always meet on Tuesdays??
January 24
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Hazel
Hi Sara - it will be either Mon, Tues, or Wed for book discussions. If there is an event such as LitCrawl or Literary Tour that may be on a weekend.
January 24
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Hazel
Michael Anne...you know how it rolls...will update as I'm certain there will be openings
January 7
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Michael Anne Bissell
I see this is full right now but I was going to start reading anyway. Happy reading!
January 7
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