The Innkeeper’s Tales is touted as a modern-day version of The Canterbury Tales. Written in the 1300s, The Canterbury Tales chronicles the various tales told by a group of people passing the time while making a pilgrimage to England. The Canterbury Tales is a challenging book to read and has been the scourge of many literary students. Thankfully, the same thing is not true here.

In the case of The Innkeeper’s Tales the stories revolve around the exploits of guests who stay at the real -life Abercrombie Bed & Breakfast in Baltimore, Maryland.
Broken up into short little bursts of writing, mostly detailing conversations, Innkeeper’s is a book filled with stories of people and their various idiosyncrasies.

Tales of politicians, stock brokers and ordinary, average guys fill the pages of the book; the stories are told with wry humor and, designed to “entertain, enlighten and empower,” the book has a unique angle in its intentions. The tales of “The Rebuilder” and “The Alpha-Male” are fun to read and highlight the diversity of the book's characters.

Written by The Abercrombie’s self-proclaimed “innkeeper” John L. Herman Jr., the book is as much an advertisement for The Abercrombie as it is a well-written memoir. The thing is that is works; if I’m ever in Baltimore I will be making a stop at The Abercrombie.

More than anything, The Innkeeper’s Tales is a fitting tribute to the spirit of self-motivation and promotion and is kind of like spending a sunny day people watching in the park.