Based Upon Availability: A Novel

Wow I did not like this book. The characters are some of the most damaged, creepy, messed up women I've read about in a long time. That they all appear in one novel just gets to be overkill. A real downer.

An interesting look at the lives of women who intersect at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City. Short stories about each of the women explored form the core of this novel, and it is interesting to see how their lives weave together. However, the conclusion left some story lines unresolved and some of the characters lacked the depth of others. Overall, I found this novel to be an interesting read, but not a great one.

A well-written and intelligent novel.It was divided into two parts. In the first part, it traces Morgan, an executive manager of the Four Seasons hotel over the course of a few months. Morgan is still dealing with the death of her older sister over 20 years ago, and has recently ended a long term relationship. In her position at the hotel, she runs into many different types of people.In the second part of the novel, it is shown from the point of view and perspective from the various other women she meets while at the hotel. The story is quite different (and often disturbing) that what we originally thought.

I liked the way the individual stories intertwined in this book but found some of the stories quite disturbing which is probably typical of mental illness but not something I typically read and did not expect in a book about the Four Seasons! It was sad and humbling to watch these women painfully live their lives. It was almost painful to read about how broken these people were, to see them caught in lives that had no meaning.

I liked the books very much but be warned it gets very dark. The characters are very flawed and dysfunctional. The setting is a posh hotel in NYC. The story is told from many perspectives: the women are connected through the hotel. You are taken to the abyss in each of their lives. It is a sad and haunting story that at times may strain the imagination. However it is well written and the characters are likeable for the most part. If you like extremes you will definitely find that in this book. I did enjoy the book and found that I could not put it down at times. But the darkness can be overwhelming so be prepared.

The storied Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan is the backdrop for a unique novel about the secrets that women carry. Based Upon Availability by Alix Strauss ties eight women's stories into the hotel, with Morgan, a sales manager at the hotel, at the center of the story. Morgan's life seems to revolve around a tragedy that occurred in her youth. Her older sister Dale died when she was just eleven years old, after a long, protracted illness. Her sister's death has held the center of Morgan's life. Morgan is angry when no one, not even her parents, remembers the anniversary of her sister's death. Morgan has idealized a relationship with her sister, imagining all they would have shared had Dale lived: boyfriends, husbands, being an aunt to her sister's children. This imagined sisterly relationship is contrasted with an actual sisterly relationship between Robin, a real estate agent, and her sister Vicki. Vicki is horrible to her sister, treating her worse than one would treat an enemy. She uses Robin, who only wants a close relationship with her sister. Vicki tortures Robin incessantly. The tables are turned in a horrible incident that takes place in the hotel. One has to wonder if Dale had lived, would their relationship be more like the idealized one Morgan imagines or would they have a dysfunctional sisterly relationship as Vicki and Robin do. All of the women harbor secrets, and try hard to hide their dysfunction. Morgan surreptitiously takes room keys from the hotel, and during the day, lets herself into rooms to rifle through guests's belongings. She imagines the kind of life they lead, and when she finds a sexual item, she steals it, hoping no one reports it missing. Anne works at the hotel and desperately tries to hide her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Through online dating, she meets an artist who works with "found objects", and he proves to be her undoing. Franny was my favorite character. She is in her late thirties, a Southern belle who relocated to Manhattan. She works as a seat filler for award shows and Broadway openings, an exciting, though lonely, occupation. At the end of an exhilarating evening, "getting on a bus or sitting alone in the back seat of a cab dressed in other's people's gowns she'd purchased at consignment shops and on EBay, with no one's hand to grasp, was devastatingly lonely. At home, though she could sit anywhere she wanted, she never found a comfortable spot, a place where her body could just relax."Sometimes when novels had many characters, they can all blend together in the reader's mind, but Strauss excels at creating unique, individual women with words like that. Of Honor Kraus, a high-powered "PR icon to the stars", Strauss writes "she wears success like the wash boys in the kitchen wear their cheap cologne-strong and powerful-". From those words, you get who Honor is right away. All of these women are sad, and their relationships with themselves and those they love is tenuous. Ellen wants so badly to be pregnant that she convinces herself she is, driving her husband away. Morgan wants a sisterly relationship with Trish, a gallery owner, who has a complicated relationship with Olive, an artist. Franny falls for a neighbor, and wants deeply to be a part of all of her neighbors's lives. This is not a happy book. But the women in it will haunt you, as you ponder what secrets the women you know harbor within themselves. It may even cause you to look inwards at the secrets you keep about yourself.

I started out loving this book. Morgan is a manager at the Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan who lost her sister to disease as a child, and hasn't really gotten over it. She goes about her work, and immediately something is off. Quickies with the busboy? Sneaking into guests' rooms and stealing their property? Obsessing over people she hardly knows? She encounters several people in passing, who you then meet in more detail as they take over the narration, but little new ground is covered. At first I wanted to go back and see if there were connections I'd missed, but eventually the story got so dark and the characters so dysfunctional that I was glad to be done with them.

In this novel of loosely connected stories, a group of eight women fumble through heartache, loneliness and idiosyncrasies of fate that lead them stumbling into the future. The story begins with thirty-something Morgan, a woman who uses her elevated position at the famed Four Seasons Hotel to snoop through the guests rooms and relieve them of their personal effects. Due to a tragedy in her early life, Morgan is unable to make emotional connections with those around her and finds herself drifting further and further away from the people in her life. As Morgan's story winds to a close, we meet Anne, a shy and unassuming woman whose mind is plagued by the obsessive-compulsive disorder that takes over her life. As Anne moves towards a new and healing relationship, she discovers that things are not at all what they seem and is left even more broken then she assumed she could ever be. Following on Anne's heels is Trish, a woman whose jealousy and desires are creeping into her life in an alarming way, wreaking havoc on both her old friendships and new. Trish is hoping to find a soft place to land, a friendship that will edify as well as enrich her. Ellen is manifesting the symptoms of a hysterical pregnancy, driving her husband and family away with her ever-growing neurosis, and Robin is about to perpetrate a truly horrifying act on a sister that has abused her all her life. Shelia is hoping that her lover will suddenly change his mind about leaving his wife, and rock star Lou is being sequestered in a hotel room in an attempt to kick her raging drug habit. Franny is living a life of appearances and is clinging to a fantasy that will never bear fruit, frantically attaching herself to the strangers who pass through her life in an attempt to wring some meaning from her life. All of these women's lives intersect at crucial moments, but none are able to stop the terrible slow motion destruction of any of the other's futures. Both raw and uncomfortably moving, Alix Strauss deftly imagines the hidden lives of a group of women desperately in search of meaning and belonging.About once every year, I do a reread of one of my favorite books. The book is called Self-Help, written by Lorrie Moore. Self-Help is a group of short stories that all share the themes of death, loss and isolation. I know, I know, it sounds kind of depressing, but the thing that keeps me coming back is the haunting humanity that comes through in every page, the subtle nuances of life that Moore captures in her ultra-realistic characters. I was wonderfully surprised to find a lot of the same qualities in this tale. I would be a little hesitant to classify this book as a novel (as it's suggested by the title), rather, I would call this a group of character sketches that share a lot of the same themes and subjects and that expertly capture the overwhelming sadness that sometimes permeates the everyday life.One of the things I most enjoy about a good character driven novel is the fact that, if done well, it's interesting to recognize the emotions and traits of the characters in relation to myself. This book excelled at this. It was humbling and almost searing to watch these women painfully expose their true selves and maneuver around others with their frailties worn on their sleeves for everyone to see. Their embarrassments were magnified, their isolation seemingly extreme, and their self pity utterly exposed for all who cared to look. It was almost painful to read about how broken these people were, to see them caught in lives that had no meaning and lost not only to one another, but to themselves. These were successful women who had no success in the arenas of their hearts and minds, whose neuroses were only thinly covered by the egos that protected them. As each woman comes forward to expose her true self, it's as if she is shedding her skin to reveal the unfinished being beneath, the part of her that is too fragile to see the light of day and must hide beneath the veneer of polish that she presents to the world.I do think that there were some women that I connected with in this story more than others. I felt particularly engrossed in Robin's story of revenge, and though it was appalling and frightening, I couldn't help but feel that she finally got the vindication that she deserved. I also felt very moved by Ellen's story of her turmoil with the false pregnancy. I thought it was very interesting to see someone so caught up in mental confusion while the world looked on in pity and derision. I think Ellen's story hit me the hardest, though I also felt for Anne and her struggles with OCD. Other stories didn't affect me as much. For example, I found it really hard to connect with Shelia and her obsession with her married lover, or Franny and her co-dependence. I think this might have been because these two women had very different morals and mindsets from myself and I felt like I couldn't understand their plights as well. Their emotions were still touching and painful to read about, it's just that I lacked the internal component for them to resonate with me.The various themes that were addressed in this book were done in such an elegant and personal way that I really found myself moved by the book. These women dealt with some heavy and emotion-laden issues. These issues are things that we hide under our mental bed and never admit to others, and in revealing them Strauss makes her characters particularly vulnerable and afflicted. While I was reading this book, I wondered just how many women out there are suffering under the yokes of these same horrible feelings, how many are walking around looking whole while feeling so emotionally scarred and damaged. The book speaks of strong women with powerful weaknesses, heroes who all carry their fatal flaw just under the surface. As these women struggled through their days and nights, their wounds became ever more noticeable and debilitating until there was barely enough skin to cover them from the world.I can't tell you how much this book moved and haunted me, and the types of emotions that it brought forth while reading it. I think may writers have tried to achieve this effect in their books and I definitely felt that Strauss did it better than most. Though this book is a very dark look into the lives of damaged women, I feel that almost any woman who reads it will be able to recognize the feelings and behaviors that come creeping from these pages and be able to humbly feel for these women who try so hard to maintain their unaffected facade beneath the penetrating glare of the everyday. I think this book is another that I will be rereading from time to time, not only to explore the rich world of emotion that Strauss creates, but as a way to connect with the some of the universal feelings that we, as women, share and undergo. A very powerful and moving read. Highly recommended.

Perhaps as a reader who is normally drawn to an equal mix of characters and plot, this shouldn't work for me. But the fact that I am more a fan of the short story than the full blown 500 page novel made it enjoyable for me. Yes, the characters were loosely tied, and no there were no true beginnings and endings, but that doesn't make Strauss' exploration of womanhood any less vivid and true.Instead, she is able to hit on the trials of middle age, those of being without a structure in your day to day life. She is able to explain the feelings that lead to bulimia with such a flair that I have to wonder if she has suffered from it personally. Strauss is able to explain addiction - to both actions and substance. She is able to shine a light on the flaws of womanhood, and seeing it through her eyes allows me to realize that my life is pretty beautiful, even if it has its own set of flaws.

There was a lot about this book that indicated it would be something I'd enjoy. I loved the concept of following a number of characters whose lives overlap through one woman and the hotel she manages. It seemed an intriguing setting, one likely to give a glimpse into interesting aspects of people's character. I sympathized with Morgan, the hotel manager, from the opening, as she's feeling the brunt of both missing her deceased sister and feeling unable to connect with her mother about her emotions from her loss--emotions her mother does not seem to share. Unfortunately, Morgan lost me as the book progressed and her behavior indicated she had deeper issues that made her a somewhat unlikeable character, and the switches to other characters was not handled in a way to help the situation. I think the author has an interesting voice and some nice descriptions over the course of the book, but emotionally I just felt let down by the end.

This book is a good example of where the blurb on the back cover sets you up for disappointment. It took me awhile to get into Morgan's story and to begin to care about her as a character. Just as I did, the author abruptly switches to the story of Anne. From here, the book becomes a series of confusing stories about several characters who are somehow tied to Morgan. Maybe I just didn't have the focus needed for such a book, but I found myself confused about who was who and increasingly annoyed at the level of gratuitous dysfunction each characted exhibited. OVerall, I don't think it's a bad book, and is worth a look, just don't expect too much.

I got this book from Early Reviewers, and, like a good girl, dove right in. It was just up my alley - an ensemble cast whose lives intertwine throughout. I like a lot of characters and a lot of action, a story that evolves showing the interconnectedness of ordinary people in everyday situations.Having said this, this book just didn't up to the potential I thought it had. Set in a posh hotel, we follow the manager, Morgan, as she copes with an unfulfilling life following a childhood tragedy. The secondary characters are introduced through Morgan's interaction with them, and spin off into their own stories. Each character has major personal flaws, obsessions, insecurities. These women, to me, didn't have enough individuality. I felt like I was listening to the same person's thoughts throughout. Their stories didn't intertwine as much as they collided, with not much grace. I felt as though the author was trying to hold the reader's hand (Oh, look, remember her? You know, from the *insert awkward situation* Remember?) One thing that really irked me was the pretentiousness of the characters. The author wrote in such a way that seemed out of place with the setting (Her characters used British euphemisms, something that doesn't really jive in NYC)Now, all the bad stuff out of the way first. I didn't hate this book. I found it to be very readable, but there were too many unpleasant distractions to keep me from really getting lost in it, which, let's face it, is the point of a book!Her dialogue I found to be excellent, very relatable. They are the conversations everyone has with their sisters, mothers, friends, etc. I'm sad I didn't enjoy this more!

Not long into Based Upon Availability the main character, Morgan, a manager at a ritzy Manhattan hotel, declares that she is "a good girl...loyal and honest," a statement that would have been easier to believe had she not already made a habit of stealing items, primarily prescription medication and sex toys, from guests' rooms, coerced a subordinate into having sex with her and lied to her boyfriend. Morgan is self-involved, full of self-pity and so fragile that a careless remark can send her into a tailspin.In the second half of the book, the story follows several different women whose lives intersected in some way with Morgan's. It is interesting to see small events seen from another angle, but really, all these women are really Morgan. There's an aging rock star version of Morgan, a frowsy, OCD version, a Morgan with a living sister, etc...each as desperate to be taken care of as the one before. Which may be why the book lost me early on; not one of these characters is the slightest bit resilient and each sees a husband to support her, or a baby or the chance to be a little girl again, as what she needs to be happy. Despite their good careers and financial stability, despite the drug use and the endless smoking, these girls are all the anti-feminist ideal.Based Upon Availability is written well enough, but there were coincidences and actions that strained credibility. I usually favor unlikeable protagonists, but there was no forward motion in their emotional lives and many of the vignettes ended abruptly and without resolution.

I got this book through the Early Reviewers program here on LibraryThing. The first half of the book is about Morgan - a manager at the Four Seasons hotel in NY. She talks about her job, her dead sister being a part of her life, her parents, how she goes into random rooms at the hotel and steals drugs and other things from folks. She talks about the people she meets and obsesses over. Then the second half of the book are about other ladies who somehow interact with Morgan or someone she knows. And what their lives are about.I did not care for Morgan. Well, that's not true. I did not care about her. One way or the other. I never felt sorry, angry, happy, interested about her life and her life choices. I didn't care about any of the characters. I didn't understand them. i didn't want to. The only reason I finished this book was because I could not figure out how or about what would bring resolution. How would it end. When I finished, I kicked myself for wanting to know.

I wanted to like this way more than I actually did.Morgan is a general manager at the legendary Four Season hotel in NYC. She works hard at her job, but she's got darkness inside her. This darkness, starting in childhood when her older sister died of leukemia, manifests itself in random sex with a busboy in the pantry and random, anonymous trips upstairs to rifle through guests' belongings. She imagines the lives they live, while helping herself to their medications. She interacts, through her job and in a "six degrees" fashion, with several other women, whose stories are mostly told in subsequent chapters.Told more as a series of slightly-connected vignettes, we meet these women. A photographer who is having difficulty adjusted to her best friend's engagement to a man she loathes. A co-worker, suffering from crippling OCD. A fading rock star, drying out the hard way in one of the hotel's suites. A woman who gets revenge on her sister for years of abuse. An interior decorator, so desperate for a baby that her mind slips her into a hysterical pregnancy. A professional seat-filler, anxious for human connection, who imposes herself onto neighbors' plans after a building fire.It was too much. Some of the stories - the seat filler and the sister's revenge, were given so little attention they may as well not even have been in there. The hysterical pregnancy was incredibly sad, as was the co-worker with OCD.There was little resolution - Morgan, Anne with OCD and the woman with the pregnancy. I don't mind stories with no resolution, as long as they have a point. I accept that I might have missed it, but I didn't get a point to any of the stories except for Morgan's, and I didn't even like that presentation.I gave it three stars, because it was engaging. I just saw more potential here than was reached.

Basically this is a book about the interwoven lives of a group of women all with some sort of major dysfunction. It is supposed to center around the general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC. The general manager is trying to get over the death of her older sister and is haunted by it in her life and in her relationships with others. This was not a book that I truly enjoyed reading. I actually did not like the main character or any of her actions. I did not have empathy for the other characters either. They all seemed to have creepy dysfunctions that were not comfortable to read...one was sort of weirdly distraugt by having ADD, another faked pregnancies...and the main character...Morgan...would go through rooms of the hotel that were occupied and pour over guests belongings when they were not there...there were other equally unlikeable characters. It was just not a book that made me feel anything but happiness when I finished it for this review. I am so sorry to feel this way but I do.

What a bunch of depressing, dysfunctional characters!! You'd think I'd love this, since I'm a therapist, but I get enough dysfunction at work!!Based around the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, this book is the story of several women, all tied together by the main character - a manager of the hotel. In the first ten pages, the main character Morgan rifles through people's hotel rooms and has sex with a busboy in the pantry of the hotel's kitchen. I understand feeling at odds with life, but geez lady, get yourself together!! I found most of the characters somewhat despicable, not able to find enough empathy to be able to relate to their behavior...Still, it's some kind of writing than can evoke this kind of emotion from the reader. I really liked anticipating how each character would be connected to the others, and it was always subtle and not overdone. The book captivated my attention and was an easy read. Think of it as a raunchy, soap opera summer beach read. You'll read it, you'll like it okay -- just don't think you'll expand your world reading this one.Oh, and I really still want to know who stole Uncle Marty's ashes!!