A burned out author ducks out on life and responsibilities and hies himself to Hawaii to recharge his batteries. He vows never to write again, spends a profligate year on the beaches, and within a year finds he has somehow acquired a bride and a child. Back to reality. Since he never quite hit the lofty bestseller echelon, he finds himself in an awkward state: he must hunt for a day job --- a new experience in his 49 years.
The Hotel Honolulu is a down-at-the-heels Waikiki Beach establishment that caters to residents and vacationers; near downtown and, as the brochure says, "only blocks from the beach." It is run by a wealthy eccentric named Buddy Hamstra who has fired himself as the manager for corruption and lewd behavior with guests. Our writer finds himself in the hotel bar, musing over his wasted life with Buddy, and before he knows it, he's the new manager.
"The staff is great," Buddy said. "They'll do your job for you, and the rest is oh-jay-tee. But I need someone who looks like he knows what he's doing."
"I'll try," I said.
"It's not rocket surgery," Buddy said. "And you've got the basic qualification."
"What's that?"
"Reason being, you're a mainland howlie."
Buddy talks in fractured Hawaiian pidgin --- he's a "howlie" (haole) himself, but fancies himself a native. He fills the hotel with his outrageous language and self-indulgent lifestyle, attracting in-laws and friends from his nefarious past, who circle his physical decline like vultures on an updraft over road kill.
Our hero's bride, Sweetie, is purported to be an illegitimate daughter of JFK, the result of a bathtub encounter between a vacationing pre-White House Kennedy and an Island girl helpfully easing his back pain. Sweetie's mother, the generous Island girl, is now simply a working girl with permanent resident privileges in the hotel. Sweetie is unaware of her Patrician heritage, but her daughter Rose (named after her great-grandmother of course) becomes a precocious and cynical child who bedevils some of the more boorish residents of the Hotel Honolulu under the doting eyes of her parents.
The hotel is frequented by a number of fascinating residents and guests, and therein lies the plot of HOTEL HONOLULU. Paul Theroux is a well-established travel writer who has produced 23 prior novels and several nonfiction travel books. No doubt he has met a plethora of characters --- enough to populate several novels --- and many show up here. The short chapters often are but a vignette; a brief character sketch of a transient guest whose visit touches the other guests and main characters in some way. Others portray longtime residents or annual returnees, and Theroux treats us to insights into these quirky characters, bringing them to life on the page.
The book seemed erratic and disconnected at first, but then the thread of the larger plot line began to weave through the separate stories. Despite himself, our burned out author finds himself concocting an outline for a book and pulling his own loose threads of life together.
All in all, a pleasant summer read for people watchers and armchair travelers.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea (HOST BKPG ROZ)
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