Staff Pick
All of the knights of the round table cannot match the nobility and honor displayed by Manny, the manager of a Red Lobster in suburban Massachusetts slated to close the next day. A deeply felt novel about the meaning of even the most seemly meaningless jobs, and the best novel about work that I've read in years. Recommended By Eva F., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
Stewart O'Nan has been called "the bard of the working class," and Last Night at the Lobster is one of his most acclaimed works to date.
Review
"A rueful mood piece....O'Nan hews to a neglected literary tradition by focusing his sympathetic attention on people with few options....Very low-key, but haunting and quietly provocative." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"This slice-of-life novel is funny, poignant, and exquisitely rendered. Strongly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[A] densely packed 146 pages with few wasted words. It's O'Nan at his most concentrated....Last Night at the Lobster doesn't have Dickens' warm and fuzzy ending, but it is a paean to those who do their job and do it well..." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Review
"Last Night at the Lobster makes beautiful sense in the span of O'Nan's writing life: It's a Zen koan of a book Manny's life in all its integrity echoing out across a wintry mall in a Rust Belt American town." The Los Angeles Times
Review
"The characters populating O'Nan's restaurant never leap off the page, and by the book's end, no great strides have been made, no pivotal issues resolved." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Review
"O'Nan's empathy for his characters is one of his great gifts as a novelist, and it is an impressive achievement that Manny's misplaced affection for Red Lobster is not risible, but tragic." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[C]oncise, unsettling, sometimes funny....Strong fiction such as this offers not only diversion and entertainment but also the opportunity to experience life as another human being. To read Last Night at the Lobster is to take an enlightening walk in the shoes of a different kind of hero." Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"Stewart O'Nan excels at bringing the reader into the skin of his characters....In lesser hands, Last Night at the Lobster...would be mundane; instead, this bittersweet story sings." Denver Post
Synopsis
A frank and funny yet emotionally resonant tale set within a vivid work day world
Look out for City of Secrets coming from Viking on april 26, 2016
The Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
Stewart O'Nan has been called "the bard of the working class," and Last Night at the Lobster is one of his most acclaimed works.
Synopsis
A frank and funny yet emotionally resonant tale set within a vivid work day world--named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Entertainment Weekly
A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall, the Red Lobster hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift--just four days before Christmas and in the midst of a fierce blizzard--with a near-mutinous staff and the final onslaught of hungry retirees, lunatics, and holiday office parties. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
Stewart O'Nan has been called "the bard of the working class," and Last Night at the Lobster is a poignant yet redemptive look at what a man does when he discovers that his best might not be good enough.
Synopsis
A frank and funny yet emotionally resonant tale set within a vivid work day world, from the author of Emily, Alone and Henry, Himself--named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Entertainment Weekly
A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall, the Red Lobster hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift--just four days before Christmas and in the midst of a fierce blizzard--with a near-mutinous staff and the final onslaught of hungry retirees, lunatics, and holiday office parties. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
Stewart O'Nan has been called "the bard of the working class," and Last Night at the Lobster is a poignant yet redemptive look at what a man does when he discovers that his best might not be good enough.
Synopsis
O'Nan has crafted a frank and funny yet emotionally resonant tale set within a vivid workaday world seldom seen in contemporary fiction. This work presents a poignant yet redemptive look at what a man does when he discovers that his best might not be good enough.
About the Author
Stewart O'Nan is the author of twelve previous novels, including Songs for the Missing, A Prayer for the Dying, and Snow Angels. In Faithful, he and Stephen King chronicled the 2004 Boston Red Sox. He was born, raised, and lives in Pittsburgh with his family.