Motel of the mysteries
Readers rate it 3.8 (11 on Hardcover)
95 pages · Released 1979 · Houghton Mifflin
Content report card
Motel of the mysteries parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
Language
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Scary or mature
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
This is a clever, illustrated satirical comedy that gently teaches critical thinking by showing how easily assumptions can be misinterpreted when we lack context. The humor is sophisticated and wordplay-driven rather than crude, making it accessible to middle-grade readers while rewarding older audiences. There is no objectionable content, and the book cleverly encourages readers to question assumptions and think more carefully about evidence and interpretation.
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From the publisher
An arch and witty tale purporting to be the dissertation of some future archeologists' discovery and exploration of the "Toot and C'mon Motel" (any resemblance to a Holiday Inn and the Egyptian pharaoh is entirely intentional.) In the process, they get just about every detail wrong, surmising it to be a necropolis - do... An arch and witty tale purporting to be the dissertation of some future archeologists' discovery and exploration of the "Toot and C'mon Motel" (any resemblance to a Holiday Inn and the Egyptian pharaoh is entirely intentional.) In the process, they get just about every detail wrong, surmising it to be a necropolis - does the "Plant That Would Not Die" symbolize eternal life or… wait a minute, isn't that just the ubiquitous plastic philodendron in every room? - and along the way cast doubt on what we really think we "know" about ancient Egypt. It's all enhanced by Macaulay's detailed and meticulous pen-and-ink sketches. Hilarious and memorable.
Shelved under
- Humor
- Modern Civilization
- Antiquities
- Anecdotes
- Fiction in English
- Egyptology
- Tutankhamun
- Motel Life
- Archeology
- Fiction, humorous, general
- Humor, form, parodies
- Pictorial American wit and humor
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ISBN 9780395284247 · Houghton Mifflin