Helpful Score: 3
Highly recommended. This is a simple book, in all the best sense of the word, about a man facing his past, his present, and his future. Many of the classics used similar formulas (see Les Miserable!)but in this case the hero is the Manager of a Red Lobster in suburban Connecticut and not the hero of the revolution!
O'Nan is great at capturing little moments that in other hands could be wasted words, such as the little ways Manny, the protagonist, gently arranges items on tables as he walks by. Compared to the cast of characters joining him as the restaurant prepares to close and some head off to the Olive Garden to start over, those little moments reveal a lot.
An easy read, at 140, pages, and a great intro to O'Nan for newcomers. And anyone who has ever worked at a chain restaurant will just appreciate the attention to detail (O'Nan supposedly got a Red Lobster manager's handbook off Ebay).
O'Nan is great at capturing little moments that in other hands could be wasted words, such as the little ways Manny, the protagonist, gently arranges items on tables as he walks by. Compared to the cast of characters joining him as the restaurant prepares to close and some head off to the Olive Garden to start over, those little moments reveal a lot.
An easy read, at 140, pages, and a great intro to O'Nan for newcomers. And anyone who has ever worked at a chain restaurant will just appreciate the attention to detail (O'Nan supposedly got a Red Lobster manager's handbook off Ebay).
Helpful Score: 3
Beautiful writing and character study. O'Nan's descriptions of the protagonist's car on the first page, the diners who lived through the Depression who moved from thrift to greed, and the lead's imagining himself in a Bruce Willis Die Hard role were high points for me. Some book group members complained "nothing happened." If you're looking for a page turner, take a pass on this one. If you want a realistic view of life for the working class, this tale of the final night at a Red Lobster forced to close down is a great one. Those who had worked in restaurants found it to be fully accurate.
Helpful Score: 3
A sad but beautiful story, with real people in an all too real situation. My late husband would have loved it too - he was in the fast food business and this book brought to mind many of the stories he told me about adventures in running a restaurant.
Helpful Score: 1
Wow, what an writer! I read this book in an afternoon and it was a fantastic bit of prose only 142 pages of life in the working class of america. A real gem.
