The Basque Hotel (Basque Series)

By Robert Laxalt

Book Overview

This novel is the first volume in Laxalt's highly acclaimed Basque-family trilogy. It tells the story of Pete, the son of a Basque immigrant, and his coming of age in Depression-era Carson City. Pete's immigrant parents run the Basque Hotel, bed and meals, whiskey and wine in Prohibition time for sheepherders and town characters. Pete is indifferent to his heritage except for disquiet about his parents' ignorance of such American traditions as Christmas trees. Pete, too prone to dreams, undergoes his rites of passage--cruelty and kindness, disillusionment, love and terror, pathos and hilarious adventure, and finally, a cautious understanding of his world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874172160
• ISBN13: 9780874172164
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: University of Nevada Press
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great read, great author - I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

This book is absolutely fantastic. Robert Laxalt does an excellent job of taking the reader back to the years of Prohibition and places them right in the midst of the lives of a Basque family living in Carson City. Pete, the main character, is a boy who experiences several adventures, mishaps, and important life lessons throughout the pages of this book. It is an easy read, with several enjoyable episodes, and one could simply take it on that surface level. It also, however, gives great insight into the conditions that Basques had to deal with living in Nevada. It deals with prejudice, family issues, and more in a bitterly nostaligic manner that leaves the reader not only entertained, but pondering the life depicted by Laxalt. For anyone interested in Nevada or Basque culture, this is a must read!