Leisure-Class Lit

The Next Chapter

Now Rosewood is taking the Hot Type amenity to an even more personal level by bringing authors to the resorts to interact with guests directly.

Boulogne and his staff look for authors that are, well, hot -- like their latest pick, Adam Gopnik.

Gopnik is known for his Paris-inspired novels and his wildly popular pieces in The New Yorker, which are included in his latest work, a series of essays titled Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York, about moving his family back to New York from Paris shortly before Sept. 11.

He looks forward to his first resort event Jan. 27-30, where he will be talking to guests about his books and their origins and meanings.

"Anything that connects readers to writers is, in our increasingly book-neglecting world, to be valued," says Gopnik. "And of course anything that allows writers a bit of sun and pleasure while they get connected to readers is to be valued, too."

"Shadows are all we have to show us the shapes that light can make," reads the last line of the first chapter of Through the Children's Gate, the theme of which is hope.

Gopnik describes his style as a hybrid of writer Calvin Trillin and psychologist Jean Piaget: "comic essays about family life that also attempt to offer ideas about how minds get made ... how we try to get our kids off the screens and onto the pages of books and stories, and why we think that matters."

Gopnik arrived in New York City with his wife when he was 21, and aside from a six-year sojourn in Paris, most of his life since has taken place there.

"The thing that I am proudest of is that I've been involved with the same woman for thirty years," he says and adds, quoting comedian and violinist Henny Youngman, "If my wife ever found out, she'd kill me."

Joking aside, Gopnik says his wife, Martha Parker, who will be joining him in Caneel Bay, is the inspiration for everything he does. "Even though she insists, at all moments ... that she does not share, nor will ever take, my last name," he says.

Legacy of Luxury

Rosewood's ultra-luxury collection of hotels consists of 15 properties in seven countries and includes such iconic brands as Carlyle and Las Ventanas.

	Author Adam Gopnik

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts properties have won a stunning number of awards over the years, including Conde Nast Traveler's 2007 Gold List: World's Best 700 award and Conde Nast Traveler's 2006 Top 25 Caribbean Resorts award.

Caneel Bay, which Boulogne describes as the ultimate Caribbean experience, is unique in that it "separates romance from children" with its sprawling setup and amenities such as a children's activity center.

Other popular activities at Caneel Bay include sailing, scuba diving, garden tours and mind/body therapy at the resort's innovative Self Centre.

The cost of this getaway to paradise? From $375-$1400 a night, which includes an airport greeting, cocktail reception, continental breakfast, access to the fitness center and pool and use of sailboats and kayaks.

In case current Caneel Bay guests are behind in their New Yorker reading, all will receive a copy of Gopnik's book so they can read it before the events. And don't worry if you miss Gopnik's event -- New York socialite and novelist Plum Sykes will be at San Ysidro Ranch, A Rosewood Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., in the late spring.

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