What: I don't know what's happening where you are, but in my little part of the world it's snowing. This seems to be a particularly good time of year to read this sad, heartfelt (and short) novel by Stewart O'Nan.
One day in late December, employees at a Red Lobster in Connecticut work their last shifts before the restaurant closes for good. The focus is on the manager, Manny, who is determined to do a good job right up until the end, despite a snowstorm, very few customers, chefs who don't show up, and a complicated personal life that's constantly in the back of his mind.
Comparable to: Michael Cunningham channeling Studs Terkel.
Representative quote: "Two months ago Manny had forty-four people working for him, twenty of them full-time. Tonight when he locks the doors, all but five will lose their jobs, and one of those five --- unfairly, he thinks, since he was their leader --- will be himself. He's spent the last weeks polishing letters of recommendation, trying to come up with nice things to say --- not hard in some cases, nearly impossible in others."
You might not like it if: You have no idea what happens in a Red Lobster kitchen and you want to keep it that way.
How to get it: It's easy to find. There's an audiobook, too.
[Originally posted 1/7/11.]
Comparable to: Michael Cunningham channeling Studs Terkel.
Representative quote: "Two months ago Manny had forty-four people working for him, twenty of them full-time. Tonight when he locks the doors, all but five will lose their jobs, and one of those five --- unfairly, he thinks, since he was their leader --- will be himself. He's spent the last weeks polishing letters of recommendation, trying to come up with nice things to say --- not hard in some cases, nearly impossible in others."
You might not like it if: You have no idea what happens in a Red Lobster kitchen and you want to keep it that way.
How to get it: It's easy to find. There's an audiobook, too.
[Originally posted 1/7/11.]
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