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Hurricane Hotel: A Novel

by J.K. Lawson; Cover Design or Artwork by Sebastian Lawson; Foreword by Andre Dubus 111

276 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-1131; ISBN 1-4251-3096-8; US$20.00, C$20.00, EUR13.66, £10.33

Hurricane Hotel is a love letter to a drowned city destined to be reborn. Set, before, during and after a hurricane, it is a rollicking streetcar ride into the colorful world of New Orleans.

About the Book

Hurricane Hotel is a rollicking, streetcar ride of a novel set in New Orleans, before, during, and after a Hurricane. The Spirit of Jelly Roll Morton tells a story that revolves around young Zack, who leaves his dysfunctional, rural Louisiana home, and hitch-hikes to New Orleans and there is befriended by a soiree of colorful characters: Some Guy Upstairs, a Mardi Gras bead artist; Martha, who has left the medical profession to become a Downtown Queen; the Chemical Sisters, a duo hell bent on changing the world; and others, all of whom reside at the hotel.

Hurricane Hotel is a book of voices, with each character enlightening and seducing the reader to join him or her in traversing the daily escapades that could happen only in New Orleans. With a foreword by Andre Dubus III, (author of House of Sand and Fog), and lyrics from Bob Dylan, Dr. John and many others, Hurricane Hotel is a love letter to a drowned city destined to be reborn and a must read for the young and rebellious at heart.

About the Author

J. K. Lawson immigrated to the United States after watching the movie, Southern Comfort. He lived in Sunshine, Louisiana before moving to New Orleans. He is well known for his visual creations using recycled Mardi Gras beads. They have appeared in the American Visionary Art Museum, MTV*s Real World and numerous documentaries, including Mardi Gras: Made in China, and Rise. He spent several years living in cheap hotels, up and down St. Charles Avenue, scribbling and doing odd jobs that included room service, dishwasher, runner, bar tender and laborer. His home and studio were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hurricane Hotel is Lawson*s first completed novel. His collected poems, The Withdrawal, will be published soon. For more information, visit: www.lawsonworks.com

Andre Dubus III is best known as the author of the novel House of Sand and Fog, which was a National Book Award finalist in 1999. Dubus's work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and the 1985 National Magazine Award for Fiction. It has also been included in The One Hundred Most Distinguished Stories of 1993 and The Best American Short Stories of 1994. He was one of three finalists for the 1994 Prix de Rome given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.