THE LOBBY Is A Hilarious Look At The Lives Of Those Passing Through An Upscale San Francisco Hotel

REMINISCENT OF GRAND HOTEL & CALIFORNIA SUITE, THE LOBBY IS A HILARIOUS LOOK AT THE LIVES OF THOSE PASSING THROUGH AN UPSCALE SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL

Reminiscent of Grand Hotel and Neil Simon’s California Suite, THE LOBBY (Friesen Press; March 2016) by Randi M. Sherman, sheds a hilarious spotlight on the comings and goings of anonymous people who come to life in the lobby of the grand Shipley Hotel. Practically engineered for eavesdropping, San Francisco’s juiciest hotel lobby offers the perfect place to witness the lives—and the most comedic intersections off staff, long-term residents, and eclectic guests.

“More than just a hotel, the Shipley is the “landmark choice of San Francisco hotels,” says the narrator. “It is a microcosm of humanity where visitors gather, common people feel sophisticated, strangers pass as interesting, twelve dollars seems a fair price for a cup of coffee, and where our perky and attentive staff provides the gold standard in artificial concern and comfort.”

Evocative of Upstairs Downstairs, the reader gets a delicious vicarious look at both the guests and staff at The Shipley Hotel whose lives briefly intersect over the course of a 24-hour period. Each consecutive chapter title is a time of day, beginning at 4:00 AM, when the hotel lobby comes to life as those working behind the scenes downstairs spruce up the lobby with fresh flower centerpieces, and front-desk staff are busy preparing for the hectic day ahead as their guests upstairs are sleeping, oblivious to the busy preparations taking place downstairs.

Randi Sherman’s spot-on character descriptions capture humanity in all its vain, self-absorbed, often romantic and sometimes loving preoccupations in 50 interlocking short stories as the narrator snoops into the lives of hotel workers and guests as they crisscross in the Shipley’s elegant lobby. Her cast of colorful characters include:

·      Meredith Stringer, the respected vice president of an up-and-coming company who won’t be so respected if her boss or colleagues catch her frantically sneaking out of a colleague’s hotel bedroom at 5:00 AM

·      A long-married couple who have clashing ideas about having fun. While domineering Hank is used to getting his way and wants to get his money’s worth during their one-day vacation with a regimented a 12-hour itinerary worthy of Sherman’s March, Peggy has her own ideas of what she wants to do on her one day off in years

·      Pamela, who takes a job in the lobby boutique after her 65-year-old husband left her for a 20-something, is more than happy to be paroled from her marriage and working at the boutique 3 days a week, which is exactly where she wants to be

·      Oscar Pasternak, a retired actor who has made the Shipley Hotel lobby his living room for years where he can people watch, read the newspaper and eat his meals

·      Michael and Karen, adulterous lovers couldn’t be more surprised when they run into their significant others in the Shipley’s lobby

·      The business executive who engages in bad behavior to make up for the mind-numbing boredom of these off-site meetings where anything goes on the highway to infidelity and career-ending behavior

·      Two aging friends, separated by an ocean who realize during their annual get-together at The Shipley Hotel that this will be the last time they will see each other

Employing acute skills in human observation, Randi M. Sherman has written a must-read for anyone who has ever spent time in a hotel lobby people watching or just savoring the luxurious ambiance while the world floats –or for anyone who has ever worked in a hotel. The next time you plan a trip, or a weekend excursion to your favorite city, pack a copy of THE LOBBY with you, and you will recognize every character in this witty, insightful novel as you gaze across your hotel’s lobby, observing humanity in all its colorful shades and hues.

The Lobby
Randi M. Sherman
Friesen Press
ISBN: 9781460278116
Pub Date: 2016

About Randi M Sherman

With an eye for detail, an ear for well-tuned dialogue and an incredible grasp of the obvious, all honed while performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and improvisational theater in San Francisco, Sherman adds just enough bawdiness to deliver a character-driven contemporary novel that will have the reader laughing and connecting with major and minor characters. A resident of San Francisco for 25 years, Randi now lives in Sonoma. THE LOBBY is Ms. Sherman’s fourth novel. For more information, please visit www.randimshermanbooks.com