The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy
Leaving Small’s Hotel
by Eric Kraft, as Peter Leroy
LEAVING SMALL'S HOTEL

YOU CAN READ
THE FIRST THIRD OF IT HERE,
ONLINE, ONSCREEN,
OR
YOU CAN PRINT IT
AND
READ IT IN BED,
OR,
FOR MAXIMUM PORTABILITY
AND CONVENIENCE
WHEN READING
ON THE BEACH
OR
IN THE TUB,
YOU CAN BUY THE
PICADOR USA
PAPERBACK EDITION AT
AMAZON.COM
OR
BARNES&NOBLE.COM.

Preliminaries

Dedication

For Mad

Epigraphs
 

In the actual world—the painful kingdom of time and place—dwell care, and canker, and fear.  With thought, with the ideal, is immortal hilarity, the rose of joy.  Round it all the muses sing. 
    Ralph Waldo Emerson 
    “Love” 

When reality is folded over to cover the ideal of which we have so long been dreaming, it completely hides that ideal, absorbing it in itself, as when two geometric figures that are congruent are made to coincide, so that there is but one. 
    Marcel Proust 
    Within a Budding Grove

It exists, my dream world, it must exist, since surely there must be an original of the clumsy copy. . . . there time takes shape according to one’s pleasure, like a figured rug whose folds can be gathered in such a way that two designs will meet. 
    Cincinnatus 
    in Vladimir Nabokov’s 
    Invitation to a Beheading


 
 

A Special Invitation

from Albertine Gaudet, Innkeeper

If you have ever stayed at Small’s, you know that occasionally we provide entertainment in the lounge after dinner.  Usually, it’s nothing much—sometimes I play the piano, and now and then one guest may attempt to levitate another, but this fall we have something special planned. The memoirist Peter Leroy (who happens to be my husband), will read Dead Air, the latest installment of his personal history, adventures, experiences, and observations, in its entirety, over the course of fifty consecutive nights, finishing on his fiftieth birthday.  Each reading will be a self-contained episode, so you can “get” any one of them without knowing any of the others.  (Of course, you would derive the greatest pleasure from them if you stayed with us for fifty nights and heard them all.  Inquire about our special rates.) 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!  Don’t miss it!

Small’s Hotel

“The Little Hotel Without a Slogan”

Small’s Island, Babbington, New York

555-SML-ISLE

LEAVING SMALL'S HOTEL
LEAVING SMALL’S HOTEL | PREFACE | CONTENTS PAGE



Where to Find It

Leaving Small’s Hotel is published in paperback by Picador, a division of St. Martin's Press, at $14.00. 

You should be able to find Leaving Small’s Hotel at your local bookstore, but you can also order it by phone from: 

Bookbound at 1-800-959-7323 
Book Call at 1-800-255-2665 (worldwide 1-203-966-5470) 
You can order it on the Web from Amazon.com Books


Copyright © 1998 by Eric Kraft

Leaving Small’s Hotel is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Leaving Small’s Hotel was first published on May 11, 1998, by Picador USA, a division of St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010. 

For information about publication rights outside the U. S. A., audio rights, serial rights, screen rights, and so on, contact Candi Lee Manning at Manning & Rafter Advertising, Promotion, Public Relations & Used Cars. 


ABOUT THE PERSONAL HISTORY
COMPONENTS OF THE WORK
REVIEWS OF THE ENTIRE WORK
AUTHOR’S STATEMENT

LITTLE FOLLIES
HERB ’N’ LORNA
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED
WHERE DO YOU STOP?
WHAT A PIECE OF WORK I AM
AT HOME WITH THE GLYNNS
LEAVING SMALL’S HOTEL
INFLATING A DOG
PASSIONATE SPECTATOR
MAKING MY SELF
A TOPICAL GUIDE

CLASSIFIEDS
SWELL IDEAS

COMPLETE SITE CONTENTS
WHAT'S NEW?

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