Reservations Recommended
by Eric Kraft, as Peter Leroy
Reservations Recommended

YOU CAN READ
THE FIRST HALF
OF THE BOOK
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, Scott, and Alexis
 
 

Epigraphs

Midway along the road of life,
I found myself within a shadowy forest,
For I had lost my way.

    Dante
    Inferno

 
. . . by the time they have reached the middle of their life’s journey few people remember how they have managed to arrive at themselves, at their amusements, their point of view, their wife, character, occupation, and successes, but they cannot help feeling that not much is likely to change any more. . . .  Something has had its way with them like a fly-paper with a fly; it has caught them fast, here catching a little hair, there hampering their movements, and has gradually enveloped them, until they lie buried under a thick coating . . .

    Robert Musil
    The Man Without Qualities

 
You may ask yourself,
“Well, how did I get here?”
And the days go by . . .

    David Byrne and Brian Eno
    “Once in a Lifetime”

 
’Tis plain, these useless toys of every kind
. . . little can relieve the laboring mind . . .
. . . every man o’er works his weary will,
To shun himself, and to shake off his ill;
The shaking fit returns, and hangs upon him still.

    Lucretius
    De Rerum Natura

 
The ungrateful greed of the soul makes the creature everlastingly desire varieties of dainty food.

    Epicurus
    “Epicurus’s Exhortation”

  Detail from the Cover of the Original Crown Hardcover Edition
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED | PREFACE | CONTENTS PAGE


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DO YOU HAVE YOUR COPY?

Reservations Recommended is published in paperback by Picador, a division of St. Martin’s Press, at $12.00.

You should be able to find Reservations Recommendedat 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
BARNES&NOBLE.COM


Copyright © 1990 by Eric Kraft

Reservations Recommended 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 publisher.

First published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York 10022. Member of the Crown Publishing Group.

Now available in paperback from Picador USA, a division of St. Martin’s Press.

For information about publication rights outside the U. S. A., audio rights, serial rights, screen rights, and so on, e-mail Alec “Nick” Rafter, the author’s earnest agent.

The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile.

 

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

COMPLETE SITE CONTENTS
WHAT'S NEW?

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