The Enders Hotel: A Memoir

My husband bought the book & told me "this is a really good book" (a 5 star rating for him) I finally picked it up to see what it was about & couldn't put it down. I have sent my copy to friends to read & bought it for my family members.

I read a lot of memoirs, looking for ideas, maybe, since I've written a few myself. Most of them are written by people around my own age (64) or older. But this one is different. Brandon Schrand isn't even forty yet, but he has written one of the most readable, page-turning memoirs I have run across in the past five years. His story is not always a happy one, coming as he does from a family with a long tradition of being torn by divorces and re-marriages, alcoholism and AA, and occasional explosions of real violence. It is more than just the story of one lonely only-child coming of age in a dead-end town in southeast Idaho. It is also the story of that hard-working and hardscrabble extended family. Raised as much by his grandparents (a step-grandfather), as by his parents (a step-father), Brandon spent much of his childhood watching and waiting for his real father to show up, studying the faces and mannerisms of strangers who drifted in and out of the Enders Hotel, a place where lives often dead-ended that was run by this family in Soda Springs, Idaho. Growing up among two generations of reformed alcoholics is hard enough, but Schrand also watches the slow deterioration (from emphysema) of the health of his beloved step-grandfather, who calls him "the Brat", but loves him unreservedly. His step-father is a rather short-fused electrician who bounces between jobs throughout Idaho and the northwest, but always comes back to the Enders when the jobs run out ... But hey, I'm not gonna tell you the whole story. You gotta read it for yourself. I really liked this kid. In fact I think I was first really sucked into his story when I figured out he's nearly the same age as my younger son, who, like Schrand, was/is a big metal head and a particular fan of Vince Neil and the Crue. (Hey kid, they have a new album!) I gotta get Schrand and my kid together. I'll bet they'd have lots to talk about. Schrand also tells of how there were seven Brandons in his second grade class. Another coincidence: my son's middle name is Brandon, and I've already told him about The Enders Hotel. Lemme put it this way: if you're roughly between the ages of 35 and 40 and only read a few books a year, make sure this is one of them. I guarantee you'll love it! I know I did. This kid can write! - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy

Growing up in a hotel sounds like a cool and exotic experience, doesn't it? At the very least, it must have offered the chance to meet all kinds of people. And eating all of your meals at a café counter, sitting on an upholstered and spinnable stool, would have been fun, too. Well: maybe. These are the kinds of scenes Brandon Schrand recalls when he thinks back to his childhood. He lets us in on his unique past within the pages of this intriguing memoir. Schrand's family owned the Enders Hotel in Soda Springs, Idaho, from 1975 to 1992. A three-story brick building with more than 100 rooms, the hotel dates to 1919 and was named for William and Theodore Enders, the German immigrant brothers who built it. Coincidentally, the establishment was also an attraction for "enders" of other sorts: transients, recovering alcoholics, and individuals just plain down on their luck. Schrand's relatives -- a complex combination of personalities as a result of multi-generational divorces -- accommodated pretty much all of them, when they weren't on the move or in recovery themselves. "It seems fitting, inevitable perhaps," he writes, "that we eventually bought a hotel, a place outfitted with so many exits and entrances, and a place that seemed itself a beacon to the far-farers, to people, ultimately, like us." (p. 203) At the same time, Brandon was growing up. An only child with a vivid imagination and a clubhouse that he eventually shared with friends and classmates, Brandon spent his so-called "formative years" doing odd jobs around the building, alternatively interacting or deliberately ignoring the guests (as per his parents' orders), and exploring the natural areas around the hotel. Complete with a geyser that erupted every hour on the hour, Soda Springs was a company town, a tourist destination, and a temporary way station for many a passer-by. For Brandon, it was Home. The novelties are what make for interesting reading here. Soda Springs. An unusual family situation. Living in and operating a hotel with a bar and a restaurant. Most of us don't come from similar situations. And yet: growing up is in itself a common experience and one that we can all relate to, no matter the location. And though we may be singularly place-oriented when we are children, it is only when we become adults and look back over the years that we realize that the individuals who surrounded us at the time made the difference, all along. As much as we loved special buildings or certain towns, it was the people who made those places remarkable for us. That can be a hard lesson to learn; harder still, to accept. Writing such a book is a risky business, since it reveals so much of oneself and one's family. (How did Brandon remember all of these boyhood incidents???) This is the kind of memoir that prompts you to write your own. It's easy to see why it's an award winner.

As someone who grew up in Southern Idaho and had heard of the Enders Hotel, I was happy to come across this book. I don't know what I was expecting but it turned out to be a book I could not put down. It is beautifully written and Schrand does a fantastic job of describing each character who crossed the doorstep of the hotel in all those years. It is a wonderful book that I would highly recommend. I would like to see it as a movie someday!

I am a student of Brandon's at the University of Idaho and after the essays of Brandon's that I'd already seen, I expected A LOT out of this book. Not surprisingly, I got it, and more. I am making my way through The Ender's Hotel with nothing short of satisfaction... it is a beautifully written and interestingly told story that rings true all throughout.