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Tales from The Beach House: A Novel

by James Aylott

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423,453,804 (4.5)None
Tales from The Beach House is a satiric work of fiction that sharply captures the "Man-Bites-Dog" world of contemporary South Florida. The Beach House, a crumbling old motel, is home to a collection of eccentric residents. Amongst their ranks; a tennis pro at the end of his game, a mortuary scientist whose love life has flat-lined, a paparazzo photographer searching for scoops, a bawdy duo fronting an improbable Ponzi enterprise, a beauty from "The Islands" with a dark secret, a fried-out TV weather man who claims to channel God, a middle school principal with a soft spot for Crack, a Rod Stewart cover artist searching for redemption, and a waitress serving a side order of erotic fiction. Each member of this cohort is in search of something - fast money, an easy hustle, fleeting romance, enduring love, fame, power, dignity, happiness... a place they can call home. As well as facing their own tender, tragic, and often hilarious personal circumstances, this eclectic gang is compelled by necessity to band together when a sinister developer threatens the very existence of The Beach House.Tales from The Beach House is carefully crafted in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen's career-long deconstruction of South Florida. Each chapter focuses on one of The Beach House's individual apartments. These standalone stories possess interwoven subplots reminiscent of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Paul Theroux's Hotel Honolulu and Thornton Wilder's classic novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Tales from The Beach House is written in a fast-paced tabloid style, reflecting both the author's transatlantic sensibilities and his two-decade career in the rough and tumble trenches of celebrity journalism.… (more)

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Wow, what a fun book this was to read.
An old Florida motel turned into condos and populated with a bunch of eccentrics. Each chapter is about a different occupant and then a story begins to take shape involving everyone.
I hope the author writes another book ( )
  zmagic69 | Mar 31, 2023 |
The Beach House is a rundown motel in Delray Beach Florida where quite a unique set of inhabitants have come together. From the former and now broke tennis coach to a young forensic examiner at the local morgue, from a paparazzi fotographer to the always making trouble couple, from a Rod Steward double to an secretive business woman - you‘ll find everything life has to offer, especially when it comes to unfulfilled dreams. This strange and bizarre assortment of characters seems not to have much in common, but when their little island of happiness is threatened, they need to stand side by side to save this precious save haven.

I fell immediately for James Aylott‘s residents of The Beach House. They all had their high hopes and also seen the downs of life but nevertheless, they are loveable - maybe except for Gabriel and Bessie Garlech from apartment # 5 - and you simply have to feel pity for what is going to happen to them. Yet, not only the characters have an immediate appeal, it is much more the author‘s style of writing that got me immediately. He masterly puts his story into words and thus makes you laugh out loud more than once.

A wonderful read that is satirical and funny as well as bittersweet at the same time. The individual stories are smoothy linked to add up to a story even though I found the presentation of their backstories much more interesting and entertaining than the actual plot. I also loved the news stories at the beginning of each chapter which highlighted that Florida creates news that surely surpass any imagination. ( )
  miss.mesmerized | Oct 1, 2019 |
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Tales from The Beach House is a satiric work of fiction that sharply captures the "Man-Bites-Dog" world of contemporary South Florida. The Beach House, a crumbling old motel, is home to a collection of eccentric residents. Amongst their ranks; a tennis pro at the end of his game, a mortuary scientist whose love life has flat-lined, a paparazzo photographer searching for scoops, a bawdy duo fronting an improbable Ponzi enterprise, a beauty from "The Islands" with a dark secret, a fried-out TV weather man who claims to channel God, a middle school principal with a soft spot for Crack, a Rod Stewart cover artist searching for redemption, and a waitress serving a side order of erotic fiction. Each member of this cohort is in search of something - fast money, an easy hustle, fleeting romance, enduring love, fame, power, dignity, happiness... a place they can call home. As well as facing their own tender, tragic, and often hilarious personal circumstances, this eclectic gang is compelled by necessity to band together when a sinister developer threatens the very existence of The Beach House.Tales from The Beach House is carefully crafted in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen's career-long deconstruction of South Florida. Each chapter focuses on one of The Beach House's individual apartments. These standalone stories possess interwoven subplots reminiscent of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Paul Theroux's Hotel Honolulu and Thornton Wilder's classic novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Tales from The Beach House is written in a fast-paced tabloid style, reflecting both the author's transatlantic sensibilities and his two-decade career in the rough and tumble trenches of celebrity journalism.

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