The Shamrock Motel
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Coach House Books
Published:7th Aug '25
Should be back in stock very soon
Aesop meets Anaïs Nin in these absurdist stories of very unexpected redemption
Getting to the Shamrock Motel isn’t easy. It’s just off Concession #18, but you can’t get there through a sequence of lefts and rights. To find the Shamrock you have to be lost – not just on the map, but in your heart and soul.
The Shamrock Motel does not accept reservations. The only way to get a room is by walking into the office and asking Rosemary, the owner/operator for one. Try not to stare at her hair.
Fair warning: no one spends the night, or even an hour at the Shamrock without experiencing some form of transformation. Whether it’s accidentally sleeping with a bear, turning yourself into a river, or getting entirely too intimate with the sun, time spent at the Shamrock will make you wiser, stronger, sexier, and more yourself. Even if that’s the last thing you want.
These linked stories explore the intersection of personality and desire, love and lust, the joy and sadness of being alive and in love. Heated pool, cable TV, and a shot at redemption: the Shamrock Motel offers it all. Credit cards are accepted, but cash is preferred.
One of CBC Books' Canadian short story collections to read for Short Story Month
Included in the Quill & Quire 2025 Spring Preview
“[H]ilarious and bawdy…Kaufman has earned a spot on my short list of authors whose back catalogue I’ll definitely check out…A book like this…deserves immediate attention.” – Ian Mond, Locus Magazine
“This is worth a look.” – Publishers Weekly
“Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, Franz Kafka, and Jorge Luis Borges also inhabit the absurd and transformative rooms of the Shamrock Motel.” – Michael Greenstein, The Seaboard Review of Books
"Kaufman’s clear-eyed humour and penchant for the bizarre shine through." – Literary Review of Canada
"A delightful concoction of whimsy and insight, the appealing short story collection Enjoy Your Stay at the Shamrock Motel mixes cathartic experiences with fantastical occurrences, rooting its weirdness in recognizable emotions and desires." – Ho Lin, Foreword Reviews
Praise for the author:
“Expansive and imaginative.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Irreverent and bursting prose…Fans of Mark Leyner will enjoy Kaufman’s messy string of outrageous scenarios.” – Publishers Weekly
“All My Friends Are Superheroes is a breeze to read, as quick of wit and light on its feet as Spider-Man.” – Quill & Quire
“This book is like a kiss in the afternoon sun. Somebody should write Mr. Kaufman a letter and thank him for his tender heart and the way he puts things down so gently. I expect this story will replace boxes of chocolates and flowers in courting rituals to come.” – Sheila Heti
“Kaufman’s greatest strength has always been his playfulness, and The Ticking Heart flexes that strength.” – Tara Cheesman, BARRELHOUSE
“Tender and brutal, optimistic and despairing, this modern fable by the author of the cult hit All My Friends Are Superheroes takes a fresh look at what it means to fall into, and out of, love.” – Hamilton Review of Books
“The Ticking Heart manages to use metaphor to encourage readers to consider the tangled mysteries of their own hearts – puffs of purple smoke not necessarily included.” – Quill & Quire
ISBN: 9781552455012
Dimensions: 203mm x 127mm x 10mm
Weight: 249g
176 pages