author
Nancy Casteel Vogel
Known for the warm, witty travel memoir Four and Twenty Beds, this mid-century writer turned everyday motel life into an entertaining slice of American road culture.
1 Audiobook
Four and Twenty Beds
by Nancy Casteel Vogel
About the author
Nancy Casteel Vogel was an American writer whose best-known book, Four and Twenty Beds, was published in the 1950s and later preserved by Project Gutenberg. The book draws on the experiences of Nancy and Grant Vogel as they leave Los Angeles to run a motel in Banning, California, giving her work an easy, first-hand charm.
Available records suggest she was born Nancy Jane Casteel in Great Falls, Montana, on February 16, 1920, and died on July 27, 2013. A memorial record describes her as a writer for newspapers and magazines as well as the author of Four and Twenty Beds.
Little widely documented biographical material seems to survive online, so much of her life remains lightly recorded. What does stand out is her knack for finding humor and humanity in ordinary work, which helps her writing still feel approachable today.