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I grew up in a Mennonite church, graduated from a Mennonite college, and even attended a Mennonite semester for one very brief period. I've watched the seismic changes in the group and now, as a person of a certain age, am delighted that a book has been written that dispels the myth that most of us live in Ohio or eastern Pennsylvania and that the majority of us are farmers, housewives, with a smattering of nurses and missionaries thrown in for good measure. Neufeld enlightens his readers to the wonderful fact that Mennonites are all over the planet. We are urban as well as rural, Spanish-speaking in greater numbers than German-speaking, we are black and brown and all beautiful shades in between, we are wealthy and dirt poor, we sin wildly with more than a bit of pride and we are humbly filled with guilt. This book may not be the end-all and be-all of books that attempt to tell the story of the Mennonites but it is certainly a good place to begin.
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(3 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
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.
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(11 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
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Gayle L. has commented on (2) products.
What We Believe Together by Alfred Neufeld
Gayle L., March 12, 2008
I grew up in a Mennonite church, graduated from a Mennonite college, and even attended a Mennonite semester for one very brief period. I've watched the seismic changes in the group and now, as a person of a certain age, am delighted that a book has been written that dispels the myth that most of us live in Ohio or eastern Pennsylvania and that the majority of us are farmers, housewives, with a smattering of nurses and missionaries thrown in for good measure. Neufeld enlightens his readers to the wonderful fact that Mennonites are all over the planet. We are urban as well as rural, Spanish-speaking in greater numbers than German-speaking, we are black and brown and all beautiful shades in between, we are wealthy and dirt poor, we sin wildly with more than a bit of pride and we are humbly filled with guilt. This book may not be the end-all and be-all of books that attempt to tell the story of the Mennonites but it is certainly a good place to begin.(3 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch
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.
(11 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)