A Roundabout Post On Elmore Leonard And How Cities Say Screw You For Staying With Us
We were in New York for the NBA -- which, if you're a book nerd, you know has nothing to do with Kobe dunking anything, but is the National Book Awards.

At this year's ceremony, Elmore Leonard got the National Book Foundation's highest honor, the 2012 Medal For Distinguished Contribution To American Letters. (My boyfriend, Gregg Sutter, is his researcher of 30-plus years.)

(My favorite Elmore Leonard novel is Swag, about two guys who come up with the 10 rules for bank robbery -- and break every one. Part of it takes place in the downtown Detroit JL Hudson store, where my grandma sold gloves during the depression.)

The event was at the beautiful Cipriani ballroom downtown. I got to sit next to both Gregg and the classy, talented and always friendly Graham Yost, who is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer behind Justified. (He was wearing his WWED [What Would Elmore Do?] rubber bracelet, that the Justified writing staff all wear, and which I'd meant to wear over long black gloves -- but forgot in LA, dim me.)

Peter Leonard, who's always lots of fun, and who wrote a book I really liked about a Jewish scrapdealer who kicks some Nazi ass, Voices of the Dead, was also there.

Elmore gave a great speech, quoting a review of him I loved, from New Music Express in the UK, calling him, "The poet laureate of wild assholes with revolvers."

Elmore's friend Martin Amis did a great introduction of him, noting that Elmore "doesn't write in the present or the perfect tense ... he writes in a kind of marijuana tense."

Leslie Kaufman wrote in the NYT:

It was only the second time that the award, which has been presented since 1988, went to a writer who was a popular favorite as opposed to a critically acclaimed legend. The first time was when the master of horror, Stephen King, won in 2003. Mr. King was also in the audience Wednesday night to help honor his friend.

Mr. Leonard, 80, took a humble tone. He compared himself with the English novelist Martin Amis, who introduced him, saying that Mr. Amis was a critically acclaimed writer and that he "was a category on 'Jeopardy!' "

Still, Mr. Leonard concluded by acknowledging that the award had meaning for him. "I am energized by this honor. The only thing I've ever wanted to do in my life is tell stories, and this award tells me I am still good at it," he said.

Oh, and what got me started on this blog post (I'm still half-asleep) is noticing our bill under our hotel room door, with "OCC/Javits Center Expansion" of $3.50 a night, in addition to a buttload of city taxes. We did not go in or even near the Convention Center. But, we get stuck with paying for it for the two days we were here. No choice.

Yeah, it's just a few dollars a night and New York is already expensive, but voters in many cities, including New York vote in pocket-pickings like this of all kinds, and with the sales tax plus the "city tax," it added over $50 a night to our hotel bill.

Makes you think twice about coming back and staying at a hotel. (We'd tried to rent a friend's apartment but it turned out to not be available, and then Sandy hit and we ended up staying at a pricier hotel than we would have because EL's publisher got us in when none had openings.)

I learned about those hotel fees a few years back. They must be popular since they bring in "out of area" money.

Whenever I have to make a hotel reservation, which isn't very often, I first find out what the state and county/city hotel tax rates are (some places like to "overcharge" these). Then, I call the place and specifically ask about any "taxes, fees, or surcharges" that I should expect on the bill. They don't like giving this information out, but you can get it. I also ask for the person's name so I can "tell their supervisor how helpful they were." (note, this is the best way to get some one's full name on any customer service call - otherwise they'll just use their first name). I write it ALL down. If I have time, I repeat this later, to get it from another person.

If there's anything different on the final bill, I get a manager and "express my dismay." Anger usually doesn't work for me, but it usually gets fixed if I say that "it's not the money, but the business practice is distasteful." No hotel wants to be distasteful.

Shannon M. Howell at November 15, 2012 6:54 AM

Amy Alkon

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/11/15/a_roundabout_po.html#comment-3450761">comment from Shannon M. Howell

I don't think you can get out of these charges -- and we were in a bind this time because of Sandy. Our hotel (the one we got kind of a deal on) had cars floating past it a few weeks ago, and was not answering the phone last week.

Amy Alkon at November 15, 2012 7:02 AM

You can't get out of the taxes, but it's certainly in the hotel manager's power (and best interest) to offer a discount on the room rate.

sara at November 15, 2012 9:52 AM

Amy,

Under the circumstances, you really couldn't do what I usually do (never had to stay in a disaster area). But, I was trying to say that I've encountered that too, and I've found that the "fees and taxes" vary sometimes from establishment to establishment. So, I call ahead and get what I call the "real room rate" so I can make accurate comparisons and decisions... and so they can't just "add a fee" at the end.

Shannon M. Howell at November 15, 2012 12:33 PM

Amy Alkon

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/11/15/a_roundabout_po.html#comment-3451091">comment from sara

We'd already gotten the Harper Collins discount, so more of a discount wasn't possible. That said, we only stayed in this hotel because of the difficulties caused by Sandy, and the discounted rate was double what we normally pay in New York. (Hotels were turning away booked guests because Sandy victims had stayed on, so we used Harper Collins' clout as a form of insurance.)

Amy Alkon at November 15, 2012 1:10 PM

This is a "kill the goose that laid the golden egg tax"

They are very popular at the ballot box, because people rarely stay in lodgings in the city they vote in.

When they get high enough they have a depressing effect on the local economy.
Between these taxes and the bedbugs, it is a race to see which of the major cities collapses their economy the fastest.

http://www.bedbugregistry.com/

Isab at November 15, 2012 3:59 PM

Amy Alkon

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/11/15/a_roundabout_po.html#comment-3451383">comment from Isab

Ultimately, by screwing the tourists, you screw yourselves.

Amy Alkon at November 15, 2012 4:52 PM

Next time you are in a bind, call Chez Ronnie, conveniently located on the UWS. You and Gregg can co-habit at my place...and my mom never has to know!

Ronnie at November 15, 2012 5:51 PM

Amy Alkon

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/11/15/a_roundabout_po.html#comment-3452539">comment from Ronnie

Thanks - that's very sweet of you, Ronnie, but I have to say, Gregg generally will never stay in other people's houses (unless we're renting and they're away).

Amy Alkon at November 15, 2012 8:10 PM

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