HEADS IN BEDS

Kitchen Confidential for hotel-goers.

Tomsky is the ultimate hotel lifer. He's performed virtually every task that a hotel worker can perform, including room service, maid service, car service, concierge service, etc. (If nothing else, his debut memoir teaches us that it takes quite a few people to run a hotel.) Despite the many frustrations involved with the tasks of his job—not to mention having to deal with the exasperating clientele—Tomsky found a happy home in the hotel world. To many readers, this may not seem like a glamorous profession. However, when the author is passionate about his career and is able to express his passion on the page, it can be a joy to read about (see Kitchen Confidential). In his debut, Tomsky doesn’t quite hit the top level, but he provides an enjoyable chronicle. From the opening bit about his adventures with valeting, it's clear that Tomsky worships at the altar of Anthony Bourdain, arguably his era's finest service memoirist. The comparisons between this book and Bourdain’s work are inevitable, and Tomsky's didactic and sometimes overly lengthy explanations slow the book down. For many readers, the behind-the-scenes stories about hotels are intrinsically less interesting than those about restaurants, but the author’s anecdotes are at best hilarious and at worst, mildly entertaining. Ultimately, Tomsky's enthusiasm for his profession and keen eye for detail keeps his book from becoming just another backstage look at the service industry.

Lacks the spark of Bourdain’s work, but readable and often engaging.