Super Host
(Sprache: Englisch)
Get ready to smile .[A] sweet story and the perfect antidote to the chaos that s been 2021. the Skimm
A deeply funny and shrewdly observed debut novel about being lost in the very place you know by heart.
Bennett Driscoll is a Turner...
A deeply funny and shrewdly observed debut novel about being lost in the very place you know by heart.
Bennett Driscoll is a Turner...
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Get ready to smile .[A] sweet story and the perfect antidote to the chaos that s been 2021. the Skimm A deeply funny and shrewdly observed debut novel about being lost in the very place you know by heart.
Bennett Driscoll is a Turner Prize-nominated artist who was once a rising star. Now, at age fifty-five, his wife has left him, he hasn't sold a painting in two years, and his gallery wants to stop selling his work, claiming they'll have more value retrospectively...when he's dead. So, left with a large West London home and no income, he's forced to move into his artist's studio in the back garden and list his house on the popular vacation rental site, AirBed.
A stranger now in his own home, with his daughter, Mia, off at art school, and any new relationships fizzling out at best, Bennett struggles to find purpose in his day-to-day. That all changes when three different guests--lonely American Alicia; tortured artist Emma; and cautiously optimistic divorcée Kirstie--unwittingly unlock the pieces of himself that have been lost to him for too long.
Warm, witty, and utterly humane, Super Host offers a captivating portrait of middle age, relationships, and what it truly means to take a new chance at life.
Lese-Probe zu „Super Host “
The Demons You're Stuck WithIn the hierarchy of linen stains, blood is at the top. Everyone thinks semen is the worst, but they're wrong. They only think this because of that popular TV show where inspectors take a black light to a hotel room and it lights up neon yellow, indicating bodily fluids all over the bedding. Since that report, people automatically throw off the bedspread in hotel rooms, assuming it's drenched in some stranger's spunk. It probably is; that's why Bennett Driscoll prefers to use duvet covers in his rentable four-bedroom house. Soap, hot water, and a rigorous spin cycle will scrub all the manhood out of a duvet cover. It's the stains you can detect with the naked eye that are the real problem. When Bennett throws back the duvets on checkout day, it's the sight of blood he fears most.
Fuck.
And there they are, halfway down the fitted sheet. Only a couple drops' worth, but on Bennett's bright white sheets they stand out like a red scarf discarded in snow. Their removal will require bleach and a lot of scrubbing. Recently, he bought a nailbrush or, for his purposes, a blood brush, to combat the really stubborn stains. In the beginning, he would just throw away the visibly soiled sheets and buy new ones, but now a year into renting out his suburban London house on AirBed, he has thrown away five sets of perfectly good sheets. Bleach is cheaper. He pulls the fitted sheet up from the corners, wadding it into a ball in the center of the bed. If the blood has transferred onto the mattress pad, that's double the work.
Dammit.
Recently, Bennett was awarded the status of "Super Host" on the AirBed website-an honor he earned for having a quick response rate and excellent reviews. Though it's never been his aspiration to become a host, he'd be lying if he said that the little medal next to his picture didn't fill him with pride. Until two years ago, Bennett was
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a full-time artist who never stuttered over answering the question, "What do you do?" In fact, nobody ever needed to ask him. He was the well-known painter, Bennett Driscoll. Everyone knew that. Okay, maybe not everyone, but enough people that he didn't have to worry about renting out his house to tourists. Unfortunately, things change, tastes change. It used to be that anything he painted would sell. In 2002, there was a waiting list. Now, sixteen years later, there are more than a hundred of his paintings in storage. His last solo show was in 2013. The critic for the Guardian wrote, "Driscoll cares so little for the current trends in painting that one wonders if he concerns himself with the contemporary art world at all." That pissed Bennett off, mostly because it was true. But a bad review is better than no review, he realizes that now. Since art critics don't review his work anymore, Bennett pores over each AirBed review as though it's the Sunday Times, scouring each for a new and nuanced understanding of his hosting skills. More often than not, they go like this: "Bennett was a welcoming and gracious host," "Bennett was very helpful," "Bennett has a beautiful home," and "Looking forward to staying at Bennett's house again the next time we're in London." They're not exactly Times quality, but nevertheless, it's nice to be reviewed favorably. Hey, it's nice to be reviewed, full stop. Sometimes he wonders if his ex-wife, Eliza, ever goes on AirBed to read his reviews. Probably not. She left a year ago to live in America with a hedge fund manager named Jeff, taking with her the steady salary from her publishing job that, until the divorce, had been paying their bills. That's when Bennett decided to move into the studio at the end of the garden and rent out the family home on AirBed. He doesn't think his Super Host status would impress Eliza. Almost nothing impressed her. He wishes someone would write, "Bennett has a beautiful home. He was the perfect host. No, the perfect man-exciting, inter
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Autoren-Porträt von Kate Russo
Kate Russo grew up in Maine but now divides her time between there and the United Kingdom. She has an MFA in painting from the Slade School of Fine Art, and exhibits in both the UK and the US.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Kate Russo
- 2021, Internationale Ausgabe, 368 Seiten, Maße: 15,5 x 22,8 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Penguin Random House
- ISBN-10: 0593189930
- ISBN-13: 9780593189931
- Erscheinungsdatum: 19.02.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
One of:The New York Times Book Review's 13 New Books to Watch For in February
Entertainment Weekly's Best New Books to Read in February
Boston Magazine's 42 Books to Help You Get Through the Rest of Quarantine
Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2021
PureWow's 9 Books We Can't Wait to Read in February
Russo s clever debut evokes a time when travel wasn t so fraught and strangers could get close enough to learn something about themselves. The New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice)
"Brimming with...pure affection." The New York Times Book Review
Here s that rare thing: a wise, literary novel that is also funny as hell...the perfect antidote to this time of being shut in at home. Super Host gives me hope for the future, when we can all open our doors, and our hearts, once more. Jennifer Finney Boylan, Buzzfeed
The Airbnb-novel genre grows with this highly readable story. Entertainment Weekly
"[Russo] is a visual artist herself, and she handles Bennett's relationship problems and his artistic resurgence confidently, with wit, wisdom and humor." Minneapolis Star Tribune
"[A] candid and captivating portrait of middle age...[and] what it truly means to take a new chance at life." PureWow
Get ready to smile .[A] sweet story and the perfect antidote to the chaos that s been 2021. the Skimm
"A droll and endearing debut novel Impeccably dry-witted dialogue and a twinkling, upscale urban backdrop against which sympathetic characters ache for a connection." Portland Press Herald
Funny, sharp, and artistic A wonderful book flanked with irony, perversity, Rear Window voyeurism, and women who understand the task of reinvention, Super Host is a case study of what we talk about when we talk about success. Lit Hub
[A] witty, enjoyable debut Russo is a formidable talent, and readers will be eager to see what she does next.
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Publishers Weekly
Kate Russo s novel hasn t yet been compared to Eleanor [Oliphant Is Completely Fine], but it should be. The character at its heart is the perfect blend of impossible and beloved, and the story is handled with a mix of wise humor and compassion. BookPage
A painter herself, Russo makes the act of creating art come alive, while effectively limning her characters in this incisive study of contemporary life. Library Journal
In Russo s charming and poignant debut the author writes with warm sympathy and humor. A treat for fans of Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta. Kirkus Reviews
[A] pleasantly quirky debut Bennett is a comfortable character to get to know, as is the London through which he ambles. Booklist
"Smart, enjoyable, clever but earnest contemporary comic novel about a likeable, seemingly hapless but resourceful as it turns out failing artist who sublets his quite apartment to fairly well off nuisances. Shawangunk Journal
"Super Host isn't just a charming, compulsively readable, romantically suspenseful novel about a lonely man who gets himself emotionally enmeshed with a series of short-term tenants. Kate Russo's wise and funny debut also has a lot to say about the neighborhoods of London, the frustrations and satisfactions of making art, and the courage it takes to start over in the middle of your life. It's a joy from start to finish." Tom Perrotta
I gobbled up Super Host, Kate Russo s smart, funny, and surprising first novel. She writes with such a generous and insightful eye about love, loneliness and artistic ambition, and has redrawn the lines that connect people in fiction through the most modern and unlikely of settings, the home share. Jess Walter
"This is the compulsively readable story of Bennett, a once-famous artist now divorced and impoverished, who lives in his garden studio and spies on his tenants through the windows. Super Host is hilarious, and touching, too; Kate Russo is a terrific storyteller." Claire Messud
Kate Russo s debut Super Host is pure delight smart, fun, poignant, and deeply satisfying. I loved it. Lily King
"Kate Russo's delightful novel is deft, fast, and startling. I could have sworn I was right there, and I never wanted to leave." Luis Alberto Urrea
Kate Russo s novel hasn t yet been compared to Eleanor [Oliphant Is Completely Fine], but it should be. The character at its heart is the perfect blend of impossible and beloved, and the story is handled with a mix of wise humor and compassion. BookPage
A painter herself, Russo makes the act of creating art come alive, while effectively limning her characters in this incisive study of contemporary life. Library Journal
In Russo s charming and poignant debut the author writes with warm sympathy and humor. A treat for fans of Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta. Kirkus Reviews
[A] pleasantly quirky debut Bennett is a comfortable character to get to know, as is the London through which he ambles. Booklist
"Smart, enjoyable, clever but earnest contemporary comic novel about a likeable, seemingly hapless but resourceful as it turns out failing artist who sublets his quite apartment to fairly well off nuisances. Shawangunk Journal
"Super Host isn't just a charming, compulsively readable, romantically suspenseful novel about a lonely man who gets himself emotionally enmeshed with a series of short-term tenants. Kate Russo's wise and funny debut also has a lot to say about the neighborhoods of London, the frustrations and satisfactions of making art, and the courage it takes to start over in the middle of your life. It's a joy from start to finish." Tom Perrotta
I gobbled up Super Host, Kate Russo s smart, funny, and surprising first novel. She writes with such a generous and insightful eye about love, loneliness and artistic ambition, and has redrawn the lines that connect people in fiction through the most modern and unlikely of settings, the home share. Jess Walter
"This is the compulsively readable story of Bennett, a once-famous artist now divorced and impoverished, who lives in his garden studio and spies on his tenants through the windows. Super Host is hilarious, and touching, too; Kate Russo is a terrific storyteller." Claire Messud
Kate Russo s debut Super Host is pure delight smart, fun, poignant, and deeply satisfying. I loved it. Lily King
"Kate Russo's delightful novel is deft, fast, and startling. I could have sworn I was right there, and I never wanted to leave." Luis Alberto Urrea
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