Book Rec of the Day 2/17/2007

Ludwig Bemelmans achieved fame and fortune as the author and illustrator of the beloved children’s book Madeline. Few people know that Bemelmans had a day job when he was starting out—as an employee of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York. Hotel Bemelmans is a collection of some of his most witty and wonderful essays of that time in his life. Posh customers, bumbling staff, it’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of a grand hotel during the swanky interwar era. Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential) calls it “absolutely sensational.”

HOTEL BEMELMANS, by Ludwig Bemelmans; foreword by Anthony Bourdain (Overlook, 2004)