Don't Miss

• Morrison's Gift Picks
• Holiday Catalog 2009
• NYRB Classics: Save 30%
• Paperback Favorites
  for Book Groups
• Springer Math Sale!
• Subscribe to Indiespensable

More at Powell's

• Featured Signed Editions
• Rare and Collectible Books
• eBooks | Audio | DVDs | Blu-ray

---

Guests | December 7, 2009

The Cornucopia of Home Science

1 comment By Theodore Gray

Reading old books of science experiments for children, it's easy to become nostalgic for the days when you could buy jugs of sulfur and mercury at... Continue »

---

1. 
   $20.96 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

   The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe

   Theodore Gray

Report Comment

---

You are reporting a comment on the following title:

---

You are reporting the following comment:

Gayle L., August 24, 2007

I have worked in a plastics factory, sweated as a motel maid, checked groceries in the days when the price of each item had to be plunked in on a cash register, taken psychiatric patients to the bowling alley, and for the past tweny-five years loved working as a therapist and as a school administrator. The one job that I always avoided, realizing my own limitations, was that of a restaurant worker. It wasn't that I didn't want to wait tables...I just knew that I would not be able to smile and be sweet to people who were acting like snobs or idiots. I also knew that my ADD would have me giving pickles to the guy who asked for coffee, a burger to the vegan who mentioned that the very sight of beef makes her hurl. And then there was the money issue...I have hired teachers who confessed that they could make as much money in one four hour shift waiting tables as they could in two full days of teaching!

So, it wasn't that I looked down on waiters. That being said, once I read Phoebe Damrosch's new book, "Service Included", I possessed an entirely new appreciation and respect for the people who wait tables in restaurants.

Ms. Damrosch is a highly educated woman who writes in a manner that educates without condescension, humors without resorting to goofiness, and tells stories that entertain without losing the integrity of the author's experience. This book, though a nonfictional account of the author's years working her way up through the ranks of a 3 Star (Michelin Guide's highest honor) Manhatten restaurant, Per Se, possesses the compelling pull of a great novel.

Not only do the readers get acquainted with fascinating Chef Thomas Keller of "French Laundry" (Napa, CA) fame; we also meet the more fascinating backservers, the sous chefs, the maitre d's, and all the other quirky, hard-working people that made Per Se run like a well-oiled machine (Extra Virgin Olive, of course). This story moves. There is not one moment of bogging down, not one page that does not ring true. The prose is clear and unwavering. This writer knows what she wants to say and she says it...the words "take no prisoners" come to mind.

Watch for more writing from this talented new author. She tells us, in the author's bio, that she no longer works as a waiter. Was that a message to her readers that she will write about her next job? We can only hope so.

I was honored to read an Advanced Reader's copy of this book...it will be released in October...get ready. It will be worth the wait.

---

Your email address:

---

Reason for report:

---

Are you a robot? We didn't think so. But just to be sure, please type what you see in the following image into the box below.

---

Confirmation:

Are you certain you wish to report this comment?

---

Terms and Conditions

We welcome your comments and ideas, but we ask that you refrain from:

• Obscenity
• Spam
• Illegal content
• Copyrighted material
• Commercial solicitations

By posting your comments you are granting the good people of Powells.com the right (but not the obligation) to make your comments available to others over the Internet, and to copy and distribute your comments via other media, in each case on a royalty free basis. These terms govern the rights and obligations of the person posting comments and Powells.com; there are no intended third party beneficiaries of these terms.

Posted comments are subject to monitoring, editing, and removal at any time. Please see our Terms of Use for our complete terms and conditions.

---

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

In accordance with The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, you must be at least 13 to submit comments on Powells.com.