Last Night at the Lobster

by Stewart O'Nan

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 WeeklyA 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.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Novels, Adult Fiction

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Stewart O'Nan is the author of eighteen novels, including Emily, Alone; Last Night at the Lobster; A Prayer for the Dying; Snow Angels; and the forthcoming Ocean State, due out from Grove/Atlantic on March 8th, 2022.

With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”

You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely pitch-perfect.

I don't know if everyone can appreciate exactly why this book is so perfect, but what O'Nan has done in capturing the mood of a crew of food service workers just as their workplace is about to shuts its doors forever is remarkable.

In any service environment, a peculiar culture builds up among the employees, but in food service that culture knits itself in a very specific way. It's all about the money: how the servers relate to the kitchen staff, bar staff, and managers affects how much money they end up with at the conclusion of a shift. You need to be scheduled well, have your section sat so that you're full but not overly busy, and have the kitchen turning out your orders correctly. If all that isn't in order, you're not going to make the tips.

Last Night at the Lobster is told from the point of view of the store manager, trying to keep doing a great job up until the last moment. Because Red Lobster is run by a corporation, a decision has come from the top to close this location, but it's not a fact that's advertised to the general public. Some of the staff is being relocated to an Olive Garden in the next town (both restaurants are run by the same corporation); most are being let go. And despite Manny's hope that the last night will be busy (it's close to a mall, and the action takes place just before Christmas) and somehow send a message to the top brass, a blizzard robs him not only of most of his customers, but also of all but the most loyal staff.

O'Nan manages to create a staff that's totally believable, with all the archetypes in place: the lifers, the various employees that come and go, either because their skills and education will eventually take them further, or because they're so unskilled they can't make it (and anyone who has never worked a service job probably doesn't understand that it does in fact take skills). The romances, the rivalries ring completely true.

It's oversimplifying to say that this novel is so good because the environment and the characters are so realistic; it's elegaic, it's moving. I'm glad I got to read it on a snowy day at home: it's the kind of book that's reaches the best emotional pitch if you can read it in one sitting.

[Tooter · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75
I loved this little jewel of a book. Stewart O’Nan manages to write a 160 page book about the employees at a Red Lobster during the span of their last working day and make it intriguing. I kept waiting for something…..anything to happen and yet when it didn’t, that was OK. Yep, he's that good.

[Glenn Sumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eating at the humble Red Lobster won’t be quite the same after reading this bittersweet ode to the service industry.

It’s a grey, snowy Saturday a week or so before Christmas, and the Red Lobster near a rundown New England mall is about to close down – for good. Sales just aren’t up to scratch, and all the staff has been let go, except for five, who are being offered jobs at an Olive Garden a few towns over.

In fact, today is the restaurant’s final day, and it’s up to hard-working manager Manny DeLeon to oversee this final shift. Complications ensue: many embittered let-go staff haven’t shown up; the forecast calls for a big snowstorm, and the mall plow is nowhere to be seen; oh yeah, and there’s Jacquie, the waitress Manny’s had an affair with, to deal with (she’s got a new boyfriend, while Manny’s own girlfriend is currently pregnant).

And let’s not forget the workplace grudges, the bartender who might be siphoning off booze, and the parade of diners who barge through the doors for lunch: a huge retirement party, two young moms, one with a child from hell, people trying to pawn off expired coupons.

Writer Stewart O’Nan’s gift is being able to describe all this in details that are vivid, honest and entertaining. I never knew how interested I would be in the workings of a chain restaurant before reading this book! Manny, still smarting from the end of the affair – as well as the death of his abuelita (grandmother) – is a perfectly ordinary yet fascinating figure: trying to get by financially, unhappy with his personal situation yet unsure what to do,

Manny is the book’s moral centre, and I loved being in his mind, even just for 150 pages.

It’s the sort of book that will make you re-examine your own daily routines, the little things that matter, that show us what we’re made of.

I have to admit that I didn’t think O’Nan would be able to offer much of a climax, but he did, and it’s one that’s beautifully, subtly set-up throughout the book.

A couple of years ago, I read O’Nan’s novel about the final days of F. Scott Fitzgerald: it was a beautiful book, sad and true. I’m sure I’ll read more of his work. But this book, although brief, will linger in my mind for a while.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Connecticut, December 20th

We follow the employees of a Red Lobster finish their very last shift as the main headquarters has decided to close their doors for good.

I had heard so many great things about this novella and after having read and loved Ocean State by this author just recently I knew I had to check this out. I was expecting something along the line of the movie Waiting with Ryan Reynolds and Ana Faris - a movie I love - and I was getting those vibes in the beginning but then my interest sort of fizzled out. Maybe I just didn't get the genius behind this novel like so many others claim to. It was like being on shift at a Red Lobster - bickering employees and crappy, poor tipping customers all while a blizzard roars outside. Not exactly the most riveting of subject matters. I can attest that O'Nan's writing is on point but the story itself is a bore. My apologies to all of those who have loved this before me but I just didn't see the point of it. 2 stars!

Thanks to Overdrive for the loan!

[Berengaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars
*highly recommended*

short review for busy readers: Phenomenal workplace fiction. Highly realistic setting detail and more than realistic characters/behaviour. Emotionally moving without falling into sentimentality or nostalgia. Smooth writing. Plot is a little sparse, but it fits the theme and setting. Fast read. Good for book clubs.

in detail
If you have ever worked even a day in gastronomy, you'll be having 'Nam flashbacks at the hyper-realistic detail in this short novel.

That may be enjoyable...or triggering...depending on your personal experiences.

The story is exactly as advertised on the tin: we walk beside the manager and staff on their last night working at a Red Lobster restaurant which is being closed down after more than 20 years by HQ due to "not having good enough figures."

Red Lobster is a popular US-American seafood chain. You can often find them on the outskirts of shopping mall parking lots or across the road from a mall. The Red Lobster in this novella is no different, sitting as it does between a mall and a busy highway.

What is different is that it's the high point of the Christmas shopping season --December 20th --but a mega snowstorm is pounding the area. Severe Weather Warnings are being issued hourly and the police are telling everyone to stay at home.

What does that mean for the few employees who actually bothered to show up to work on the very last day? Will anyone come in? Should they stay open just in case? If yes, until when? The plug's being pulled for good -- does it really matter what they do today?

These questions are posed and debated again and again throughout the novel.

And the answers and decisions all boil down to loyalty.

Not just loyalty to the company (who is shutting them down) but also the potential hungry customers looking to get in out of the snow. And what about their long-suffering manager, the novel's focus character? Is it right to leave him to work the restaurant all by himself after so many years?

Customers do come in -- everyone from regulars to a loud office party of 16 people; from two old biddies with expired entree coupons to a Karen who massively overfeeds her hellish toddler, then threatens to have the manager fired when the boy gets sick.

But that's nothing compared to the staff dramas and backstage fights.

And the ominous snowstorm raging outside.

For such a short novel, "Last Night at the Lobster" really packs a punch, both in the reality department as well as in the philosophical, prompting the reader to ask themselves what they would do. Where there own personal loyalty would lie and how far it would stretch in a similar situation.

Would you stay or would you go?

My only critique of this novel is that I'm not a fan of using real living people, products or known chains in fiction, nor referencing specific songs or movies. I find it not only lazy writing, but it also ages and travels badly.

Unfortunately, O'Nan uses not only Red Lobster, but also mentions a bevvy of other real mall stores as well as what songs are playing on the restaurant sound system.

This name dropping adds to the hyper real-life feel, sure, but I'd rather he'd made something up. As it is, it reads a bit like he got severe kickback from the Lobster (which he very well might have) and others for so much product placement.

Despite that niggle, it's still well worth the read as it's a brilliant piece of workplace fiction.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little gem of a novel from a writer I hadn’t read before. It’s told from the perspective of Manny, a manager from within the eponymous restaurant chain, whose branch in a New England town is being closed down by Head Office. He’s a conscientious employee and a decent guy, but is also someone with his own personal problems. On his last day he has to cope with difficult customers, dispirited and resentful staff, and a major snowstorm. There isn’t really a plot, just the events of the restaurant’s last day, but where the novel shines is in the interaction of the characters, ordinary people each with their good and bad points. There’s also the particular atmosphere that arises when something comes to an end, when routines carried on for years are enacted for the last time, and when a group of people who have been thrown together go their separate ways. The book has a really authentic feel. A novel about ordinary people who are faced with change, and who deal with it and move on with their lives. Good luck Manny!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I live in my own little world inside my head, complete with pugs dressed as butlers and rainbows made of Laffy Taffy, it was a long time before I became aware of Stewart O’Nan. Partially, I suppose, this is due to the fact that O’Nan’s books do not draw undue attention to themselves. He is not an elegant prose stylist; he does not construct elaborate plots that bend time and space and then loop back again; and he does not fetishize the typical professions found in most novels/television series/movies.

Instead, O’Nan produces sparely-written books that subtly mine the realities of the actual human condition. His characters aren’t rich, or powerful, or imbued with remarkable gifts. They are just muddling, middling human beings, like the ones you see every day, like the one you might be yourself. Of course, this doesn’t provide much of an escape, and it might leave you a little befuddled by the end. O’Nan, you see, isn’t following the typical three-act structure that frames most novels or screenplays. Sure, there is often a genre hook in his fiction – a murder, a kidnapping – but that’s never the focus. Readers acclimatized by modern storytelling techniques might be a bit puzzled. You finish one of his novels and think That’s it?

That’s something you need to know going in to an O’Nan novel: that no matter what the book jacket says it’s about, it’s not about the plot. There is no action; there is only people reacting to action, which most often takes place off center stage.

My love affair with Stewart O’Nan began with Last Night At the Lobster. It was a fortuitous meeting: Had O’Nan chosen to set his novel at a Chipotle, I probably would have lived and died without ever cracking one of his books. As it is, however, he chose the Red Lobster, and the Red Lobster and I have a history. One of the great middle-class pleasures of my life is the Admiral’s Feast, which can feed me for close to a week, depending on how many biscuits I can slip into my pocket without the waiter noticing.

Last Night at the Lobster is about – as the title strongly hints – the last day of a Red Lobster that is being closed. Its main character is Manny, a pot-smoking manager who is really serious about doing a good job. He reminds me of that Martin Luther King, Jr. quote about how if you are called to be a streetsweeper, you should sweep as Michaelangelo painted or Beethoven wrote music. Manny treats his job as though it were the most important thing in the world; he gives it the care of a master craftsman, with an eye to the smallest details. It is something that is both sad and noble.

The Lobster's final day is snowy and treacherous. Manny has to deal with the fact that many of his employees – at least the ones who aren't leaving with him to go to the Olive Garden (in the hands of anyone but O’Nan, I would’ve assumed this to be a snide joke directed at Middle-America; O’Nan, however, has such empathy, that the thought never crossed my mind) – haven't come in. He is also trying to sort out his relationship with Jacquie, a waitress and past lover who has moved on with her life. Manny still loves Jacquie, but he has a pregnant girlfriend, Deena, back home.

This is a slim book, an epic in miniature. It is a minutely detailed reconstruction of a day. The tasks, mundane as they are, are inflated to heroic proportions. There is Manny's courageous attempts to clear the sidewalks with a stubborn snow blower; there is Manny's shuttle diplomacy as he keeps peace with a tempestuous cook, bickering waitresses, and annoying customers; there is Manny's Homeric trek across a treacherous parking lot to reach a shopping mall, where he then tries to find a gift for Deena. All of this is just cover for O’Nan to explore humble lives given meaning through love.

Despite the title and subject, this is not an ironic book. (And I say this as a person who actually purchased this book a bit tongue in cheek. I mean, it’s about Red Lobster! It’s the hillbilly Delmonico’s). O'Nan never makes fun of the plight of these lower-middle class service providers. There is no false nobility or artificial inflation of the working man; and there is also no condescension or patronization. He treats his characters, simply, as humans, and O’Nan has a fine eye for people. Manny's struggle to keep the Red Lobster open until closing time may seem like a small thing to us, but for him, it is akin to blowing up the Death Star or throwing the Ring of Power into the fires of Mount Doom. We don't all get to save the world, or even lives; most of us do the mundane to get a paycheck, but we try to do it well, because there is some honor there, in a job well done, whatever that job may be.

This is a short, quick, gratifying read. O'Nan is a propulsive storyteller. He writes in simple, clear prose that is blunt and to-the-point. I’m quite impressed with the details he can limn with so few pages and so few adjectives. That said, there's nothing poetic or elegant in the words. I can't remember a single line from the book, or a single profound thought. The profundity is in the story itself. It’s a subtle point is worth looking for. This isn’t a novel that helps you escape from your life; it is a novel that helps you relate to life.

The only lingering question I have is this: what caused this Red Lobster to close? Those places are always packed. Always. The most dangerous place I've been is a Red Lobster parking lot during Lent.

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novel on a balmy March day but the setting is so convincing that I looked out the window several times to see if it was snowing. In Last Night at the Lobster, O'Nan creates a pitch-perfect world - a Red Lobster restaurant before it closes for good. He treats the restaurant and the staff with respect, avoiding the easy impulse to satirize. Every page glimmers with truth. Reading this novel makes me realize how rarely that happens in literature.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manny De Leon is spending a double shift working his last day as the manager of a Red Lobster. The bosses at the corporate headquarters have decided to close this older restaurant. Lacking the holiday spirit, the bosses picked December 20th as the last day of operation.

The book follows Manny, hour by hour, in the restaurant while a blizzard dumps snow on the parking lot outside. Some of his crew show up in spite of the weather because they have a sense of loyalty toward Manny. Manny is kind and decent to his employees, and the restaurant is a bit of a home for him. He works hard, pitches in to keep everything running smoothly, and keeps the crew's spirits up. He's one of many unrecognized workers who shows up, does their job well, has pride in their work, but never gets any glory. As the hours tick down to closing time, we also find out the complications in Manny's personal life. There is also resentment by some of the crew members who will not be hired by another restaurant in the chain.

"Last Night at the Lobster" is a low key novella about the working class. The book will make the reader appreciate the people who come to work with a smile on their face day after day. Even though it's a quiet book, it kept my interest since I cared about the characters and the writing was excellent.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m becoming a new Stewart O’Nan enthusiast!
Hot damn — the man can write —

This slim novel was first published in 2007 … 162 pages. O’Nan crushes it ‘real’
between the employees, customer shenanigans and chilly blustery weather conditions. (think current days in many parts of country)

My ‘favorite Stewart O’Nan 'love' (so far) — is
“Ocean State”,
but I enjoyed this novel (novella). The cast of characters are multifaceted flawed, and very realistic.

I’m reminded of the many stories our daughter brought home years ago when she took a servers job at ‘Pasta Primavera’ the popular restaurant (in Santana Row in San Jose), Our family best friend, was the manager of it.
Between ‘both’ of their ongoing crazy stories- I felt right at home (apparently my emotions did too), with this ‘everything’-restaurant-associated novel.

There are many other prior (wonderful), reviews-
….about Manny DeLeon, the manager of ‘The Red Lobster’, his slash jacket, and more serious struggles he had to face, the mishmash employees, and customers —
leading up to the final day in operation. The restaurant is closing its door forever.

Since you don’t need another review from me … (by the way - I can’t eat lobster or shellfish I’m allergic)…
I’ll just add….
I wanted to punch a mother myself who allowed her child to behave as he did - then ‘demand’ a new soda when the punk spilled it.

There is plenty to cringe at- and make you smile.
‘Slice-of-life’… by the greatest:
Stewart O’Nan…
yep, “he da man”!

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last Night at the Lobster owes what little effectiveness it has more to its three conceits than to skill or insight. First, it's narrated in the present tense, for a sense of immediacy. Second, it's set entirely in environments (a chain restaurant and a shopping mall) that are comforting by design. Third, the story takes place during a snow storm, for a sense of surreality and semi-isolation. O'Nan does little else to generate the mood on which the novel depends; in particular he provides few of the details that would have brought the settings to life, relying instead on the reader's familiarity with the locations.

The tone makes it obvious from the beginning that action and plot aren't going to be the point; we don't expect anything to happen, and nothing much ever does. This wouldn't be a problem if Lobster delivered what it should: character development, meaningful interaction, humor, insight. Unfortunately we get nothing more than we would get if we actually spent a day wandering around in a Red Lobster, voyeuristically eavesdropping on the very ordinary people working and dining there. Actually we get less; we learn nothing more about any of the characters than the bare essentials that define them as each is introduced, and we learn next to nothing about the minutiae of running a restaurant.

There's nothing wrong with celebrating the quotidian, but shouldn't that celebration be something more than a dull reflection?

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book I was reminded of Joe Queenan's Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon (1999), an unfunny book of tossed-off "humor" pieces about the irrevocable cheesiness of American culture. In an essay called "Slouching toward Red Lobster" (see what I mean by "unfunny"?), Queenan describes the chain as a place for people who think they're too good for Roy Roger's. That about sums up his point: I'm better than other people, and I get to write a book about it!

What I loved about LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER is that forces people who revert to that reactionary snark to rethink their condescension toward the service industry. O'Nan finds poetry in the routine of check-lists and machinery, in the effort to treat customers more kindly than they treat waitresses and servers, in the effort to not give into despair but find some pride in work. The story and style are deceptively simply, and it's easy if we read too fast to miss the emotional subtext. In effect, O'Nan walks a tightrope here---he doesn't veer toward melodrama or sentimentality but a kind of fanfare for the common man. The most dramatic moment comes when Manny ponders stealing the giant stuffed fish as a momento of all his time at the restaurant. For some folks, that may seem too miniature to command attention, but to me it's indicative of the thousand little daily ethical challenges we face that make us a moral people. Simply put, a beautiful little book.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

"Here we go," Manny says, to himself as much as anyone, and for the very last time he flips the breaker for the neon sign by the highway, then slides the tab of the plastic CLOSED sign on the front door to the right to let the whole world know that they're OPEN for business. -- page 29

O'Nan's novella Last Night at the Lobster would make a satisfactory companion piece to the memoir Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by Steve Dublanica, which I happened to read six months ago. Although I enjoyed said memoir more - because sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction - O'Nan's straightforward tale smacks of some authenticity. It takes place at a chain seafood restaurant's last day of business (it's being shuttered by the corporate office due to a downturn in revenue) that coincidentally occurs during both a blizzard AND just days before the Christmas holiday. It's told from the point of view of Manny, a dedicated shift manager in his early 30's who is quietly determined to put in his usual honest day's work even though it would appear superfluous given the situation. Although it's extremely low-key workplace drama, O'Nan is able to neatly sketch out the handful of personalities involved (the kitchen staff, the waitresses, the handful of customers, etc.) as they battle boredom, and sometimes each other, before the final closing time.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

This little bitty book is about exactly what the title states – the goings on with the staff of the local . . . . .



Not to be confused with . . . . .



As they work the last shift before their failing location is permanently closed. Some will simply be moving to the next nearest franchise for their next shift, some were such terrible employees at the current strip-mall site that there’s no way manager Manny could give them any sort of recommendation. Some will stick it out until the lights are switched off for the final time, some will cut out as early as possible either due to an impending blizzard or interpersonal conflicts. It’s sort of like a dramatic version of . . . .




I actually went to the library (in May – because of course I listened to this eighty-seven months ago, but remembered I never wrote anything when my kid asked to go to our local Red Lobster for dinner the other night) to maybe check out West of Sunset by this author as that one had been recommended to me. When I saw this short selection available on audio (knowing I had a short road-trip coming up) I figured I might as well roll the dice. I don’t really know what to say about this one. The entire experience was kind of like watching a Seinfeld marathon – it’s not really about anything, and yet somehow . . . . .

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+ stars

Murphy's Law states," Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

A restaurant closing and subsequent job loss, a love affair ended, a blizzard to ruin a final night, a powerball ticket's disappointing numbers - such bad luck, and yet, this book is not only about loss.

Having worked as a waitress I found the relationship among the staff of The Lobster very realistic. There are the complainers, the undependable, and maybe the dishonest but there is also the camaraderie. During the quiet times the employees are a family and the off -times are treasured. Manny, the manager in this story, does a wonderful job of understanding all who work under him. He keeps everything moving forward. He is upbeat and helpful.

Bruce Springsteen could easily have written a song about this restaurant's last night. It is not earth shattering but it is a real and honest portrayal of day to day life for many people.

O'Nan does a great job creating the atmosphere. The darkness of the afternoon and night, the inconvenience of a blizzard, the salt-pelted, slushy snow appearing pink as it reflects the light from the neon sign - not the lovely evening snow of Robert Frost's poem.

The author's sparse prose beautifully matches this final evening. I enjoyed this poignant story and will definitely read another by O'Nan. It is one of those books you think about long after reading and appreciate more and more.

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb says that Stewart O’Nan is the bard of the working class. I first found O’Nan when I read Faithful with the baseball book club on the occasion of the Boston Red Sox’ last World Series win. My son asks to read this diary of a championship season every time he is home on break, so this year I decided on a reread myself. I enjoyed the humorous banter between O’Nan and Red Sox super fan Stephen King and decided that I would read more of both authors over the course of the year. King is a megastar whose work is available in every library and bookstore. O’Nan lives in Connecticut, and his work is considered regional fiction. Having never read O’Nan besides Faithful and another baseball themed short story that he wrote with King, I selected a first novel blindly. Sometimes that is the best because it allows one to have zero expectations going into a book. Last Night at the Lobster is a novella that explores the depth of humanity on a snowy night the week before Christmas. Although not a subject matter I would generally choose, the story sounded intriguing enough that I knew it would hold my interest, and it ended up surpassing those expectations.

Manny DeLeon is a thirty something year old manager of a Red Lobster slated to close a week before Christmas. Manny is switching to an Olive Garden in the next town over and is allowed to bring five top employees with him. We find DeLeon at a crossroads in his life. His beloved abuelita passed away less than a year ago, and he sold her house, the only one he ever knew, moving into an apartment. The only mentor left in his life is his high school basketball coach who comes to the Lobster for lunch on a daily basis and orders flounder and rice. Manny exhibits quality managerial skills and daydreams about working in an office rather than for Darden Restaurants. At this point; however, Manny’s only hope of moving up in the world is to win the lottery. He debates whether to marry his girlfriend Deena and what gift to get her for the holidays. Manny appears to be a man suffering from a premature midlife crisis in his thirties, but his life is just the reality for millions of working class Americans as portrayed by O’Nan. The action begins as Manny sets up for a last evening at the Red Lobster as a winter storm approaches, and both he and his employees wonder why they are even there.

Even though most middle class Americans say that the Red Lobster is yet another dead end job, for Manny and his employees it is both their paycheck and a family. Roz has been at the Lobster longer than Manny has and will be moving onto Olive Garden. Ty the cook is Manny’s brother in hard work and humor, and he happens to whip up an excellent shrimp scampi, Manny’s supper of choice. One employee who complicates the move is Jacquie, a server who Manny got involved with for six months. Manny fell for Jacquie harder than she did for him, possibly the void left by his abuelita. Complicating the matter even farther is that Jacquie is involved with a decent guy named Rodney, and Manny is still with Deena. His mind play tricks on him: he could see himself with Jacquie long term but not Deena, but this could be infatuation and not love. In his thirties, Manny is still afraid of settling down for life. Even though she receives a minimum of print, Deena appears to be a winner. Perhaps it is the weather and the prospect of going to a new job, but Manny can not bring himself to pop the question to Deena even though she seems to generally care for him. None of these characters are memorable on the surface , but the story line makes for fast reading as I want to see how things resolve themselves.

I am not usually a reader of character driven fiction or novellas. The characters have to be well crafted so that I root for them. There are a handful of authors who flesh out complex characters in a short amount of time, and I will read anything these authors write. This is only the first fiction of Stewart O’Nan’s that I have immersed myself in, but here be has the potential to add himself to my shortlist. Manny DeLeon is an everyday guy. There is nothing to make him standout, but O’Nan crafts his character into one you would want as a family member or neighbor. He exhibits compassion toward most of his co-workers, including some humorous moments that had me smiling. He braved a storm to buy a present for Deena, nothing special here either but a gesture that shows that he genuinely cares about her one wonders if after the snow ends if Manny will ask Deena to marry him. It is a question he is been grappling with for awhile and would make for a neat ending. I doubt Stewart O’Nan is an author who prefers neat endings as he would rather write about the scope of human emotions. The Red Lobster employees exhibit a wide spectrum of feelings, and even though these are all everyday, typical Americans, I would be curious to see where their lives take them. That this could be accomplished in under one hundred fifty pages speaks to the depth and breadth of the author’s abilities, placing him on my character writing short list.

Last Night at the Lobster takes place in the middle of a winter storm. I read this in the course of a picture perfect autumn day while my students worked on their own language arts writing. The settings could not have been more different and makes me, a person who detests winter, pine for colder temperatures. They are coming, eventually. In the meantime, I will continue to explore those authors who I consider the masters of their fields. I discovered Stewart O’Nan via his writing partner Stephen King, another master writer and fellow baseball fan. Having that affinity with O’Nan is enough to read more of his body of work. Last Night at the Lobster has been an excellent entree to his work. He appears to be an excellent judge of human character and emotions and I look forward to reading more of his work in coming years, baseball or no baseball.

4 stars

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a kind of day-in-the-life story of a restaurant – in this case the last day, as management took the decision to close its doors for economic reasons. It’s a Red Lobster restaurant-chain, but it could be a fit-in for any franchise restaurant. The author does a wonderful job of humanizing this last day.

The main character is Manny and we come to see how he relates to his employees – and his girlfriend at home who is pregnant and his other girlfriend at the restaurant.

There’s a big snow-storm outside and we get a perspective of the many interactions between employees, customers and the restaurant. There are no lasting revelations on this last day – just a matter-of-fact story telling about the goings on. There is humour sprinkled here and there. I would have liked to know what the customer from hell with the horrible toddler wrote on the comment sheet (I’ve always wondered what restaurants do with these??). There’s a nice snowy atmosphere throughout this short novella.

[Marcus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this one up for two reasons:

a.) the cover and size grabbed my attention
b.) it's set around the holidays and I needed a good Christmas book to read.

O'Nan is a really good writer, no doubt about it. He's got a good voice. He's very descriptive and does a great job of putting you in the setting.

This book, however, was greatly disappointing. It had been lauded by folks like the NPR critics, but I'm not sure why. Yes, he painted a stark and realistic portrait of what it's like to work in a restaurant, but...

Nothing ever happened. Nothing. This was the most uneventful story I've ever read. It snowed...a lot. It was the last night the Lobster was open. That's about it.

O'Nan never really developed any of the plots or characters. He either needed to shorten it and call it what it really was--a short story, or expand on everything and flesh out a decent plot and evolve his characters beyond their cliches.

Nothing was resolved, and everything was eluded to in the book rather than shown.

Nothing happened outside of snow. No customers, no hijinks of any nature, nothing surprising, entertaining or interesting...

He did a great job of describing everything in great detail and his brief foray into the mall was dead on, but it wasn't enough to be considered a novel, let alone a good novel.

Read it if you must, but check it out of the Library, you probably won't find yourself wanting to read it again.

[ALLEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, slice-of-life 2007 fiction about the man sent to close for good -- and right at the holidays -- a dying chain restaurant on the edge of a decaying mall in a decrepit industrial town. Absorbing, but does not ignore humor. A quick read, and a very good one!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little gem I read in one sitting on a blizzard January night near Chicago. It cannot be other than a 5 for the perfect voice of work life that O'Nan accomplished. An unknown author to me, this book was found sitting on the NEW shelf as I came in from -2 temperatures. I paused, just standing there, to warm up and let my returns unfreeze in their bag. Not to get books but to bring them back. But this single one sang out to me for some reason. I read no reviews, nor had seen any preview trailers for this novella at all.

Manny is the manager of a Red Lobster that is closing by corporate dictate and this winter storm Christmas season day is his last to be open. He is taking only 5 current employees to new positions at an Olive Garden, so it is the last day for everyone else. The nuance of context for crew, cooks, his direction- all the interactions of competition and completion skills- done PERFECTLY. Told in Manny's minute to minute of this day and evening, the entire was masterly.

As others can perform analysis and croon on over Proust's aromas of verbose description, I can do the same for service life. This story brought by intense memories for me of 40, no 50, years ago, of descending dark stairs into a deep unlit basement to get more hams to bring up for slicing in the deli. Of restocking the shelves, of doing inventory on sanitary belts (lol)- SO many things. Freezers, dark storerooms, the "break" rooms (and I have had many of those). Many service jobs are similar, food industry to retail shops. But especially those of easily perishable items. Florists or frozen custard. Of those I know too.

Steward O'Nan has written a novel about love and pride of work. Manny's love of his life is leaving, but is it a woman or is it his branch? Why do some crews (be it in corporate or any other multi person of long association for work)meld and others become toxic. Why does an excellent worker of terrific role model sometimes respond as if Kryptonite with Superman, for the others of longer standing? But there is far more than just the under characters' personalities and reactions here.

Because his ability for description of task and minutia is outstanding. Some take this as condescension by the author. Not at all. Service workers and those of long term repeating tasks of all kinds, they need to break it down. Zone outs, automatic movement, tricks and skills honed to coordinate, accurate. As is the ire and irrational behaviors of revenge that occur too. Not at all uncommon, and not just in semi-skilled service jobs either, but in multi-degreed high middle management levels, as well. Experienced of last days in an academic satellite library, no public audience industry- STILL- the same. Resentments or active good intent good-byes coming from surprising quarters, absolutely.

Manny feels worth in his work. He projects and uses his own high standards for evaluation of his own actions- leaving nothing of his notice partially or insufficiently undone. This is NOT a trivial characteristic, nor does it reflect disdain by the author. It just is. The value of work, physical work, and task related skills of movement have traditionally been central to humans' cultural "worth" and importance. And personal self-identity's "worth" as well. That has changed somewhat. But Manny and Roz are STILL the foundations, and not the inconsequential.

As the story drew to a close, I wanted more. I want to hear about Manny at the Olive Garden- and how he melds those crews. And will he take a chance on a "Ty" again?

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Red Lobster is closing down and manager Manny is faced with a double shift on the last day, a day on which he has to deal with less than happy staff, a waitress who he is still in love with, and his need to buy his pregnant girlfriend a present. I am not sure what to say about this. From what I read about it before, I went into expecting something along the lines of Dominique Fabre’s awesome ‘The Waitress was New’, a novel in which nothing really happens but we get a totally perceptive picture of people in an ordinary everyday situation. ‘Lobster’ does seem to start out that way, but then there is way too much ‘story’ for me. Once it started to make things happen, it lost what I was looking for. I was interested in how Manny dealt with the last day, but the focus wasn’t quite that. I guess I am saying I am not the best person to review this. There is much to admire in the book, and if I had not gone into it with my preconceptions, it might have turned out to be a much different review. I have certainly not given up on the author and will read more of him in the near future.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I read by Stewart O'Nan was "The Circus Fire," about the tragic fire at a Ringling Brother big top in Hartford, CT, during the 1940s. I've read a lot of books about fire, an obsession I've been cultivating since I first watched a fire engine roar down the street when I was two years old, and this was a good one. It was propulsive fiction. I read the entire thing flying home from Paris, ignoring the inflight meal (this was back in the days when they had inflight meals; now you just get sneered at).

I had no idea O'Nan was a novelist, but when I saw that a book had been written about Red Lobster, I couldn't pass it up. I love Red Lobster. Everyone makes fun of it because it's the place that poor people think is a fancy restaurant. I don't care what the naysayers say - you CANNOT beat the Admiral's Feast. It'll feed you for three days (plus the biscuits are good).

Anyway. O'Nan has been termed the Bard of the working class. If that means he is able to write a book without a character who is either a doctor or a lawyer or a cop or a crook, then I would agree. Last Night at the Lobster is about - as the title strongly hints - the last day of a Red Lobster that is being closed. Its main character is Manny, a potsmoking manager who is really serious about doing a good job. He reminds me of that Martin Luther King, Jr. quote about how if you are called to be a streetsweeper, you should sweep as Michaelangelo painted or Beethoven wrote music. Manny treats his job as though it were the most important thing in the world, something that is both sad and noble.

The Lobster's last day is snowy and treacherous. Manny has to deal with the fact that many of his employees - at least the ones who aren't leaving with him to go to the Olive Garden (this feels like a joke New Yorkers make about the midwest) - haven't come in. He is also trying to sort out his relationship with Jacquie, a waitress with whom he had a relationship, but who is now dating someone else. Manny still loves Jacquie, but he has a pregnant girlfriend, Deena, back home.

This is a slim book, and can best be described as an epic in miniature. It is a minutely detailed reconstruction of a day. The tasks, mundane as they are, are inflated to heroic proportions. There is Manny's courageous attempts to clear the sidewalks with a stubborn snow blower; there is Manny's shuttle diplomacy as he keeps peace with a tempestuous cook, bickering waitresses, and annoying customers; there is Manny's Odysseyan-like trek across a treacherous parking lot to reach a shopping mall, where he then tries to find a gift for Deena; finally, there is the underlying melancholy of love rent asunder.

Despite the title, and the emotional baggage Red Lobster carries with America, this is not an ironic book. O'Nan never makes fun of the plight of these lower-middle class service providers. Manny's plight - keeping the Red Lobster open until closing time - may seem trite, but it is the type of plight common to all. We don't all get to save the world, or even lives; most of us do the mundane to get a paycheck, but we try to do it well, because there is some nobility there, in a job well done, whatever that job may be.

The book reads fast. O'Nan is a propulsive storyteller. He writes in simple, clear prose. I am quite impressed with the details he can limn with so few pages. That said, there's nothing poetic or elegant in the words. I can't remember a single line from the book, or a single profound thought. What he does is tell a relatable story about relatable people (maybe too relatable - O'Nan doesn't creat a world to escape to; he recreates the world most of us inhabit).

The only lingering question I have is this: what caused this Red Lobster to close? Those places are always packed. Because they are AWESOME.

The most dangerous place I've been is a Red Lobster parking lot during Lent.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found out about this book from a GR friend, and really ended up loving this story about the last day at a Red Lobster restaurant after they receive news from corporate that their location is being permanently closed down. The manager and a few remaining staff members try to give it their all to make the last day a success, despite the day’s blizzard. Being the last day, others decide to give nothing at all, or stir the pot. It’s interesting to get an inside peek at the staff dynamics, almost like a family...a real family, with all its mix of solid and crazy characters. Anyone who has worked on long term assignments would probably be sure to relate. And although I enjoy dining out, I’ve never worked at a restaurant, so it was interesting to get a glimpse of what the staff needs to do to make everything come together to feed their customers and keep them happy. A cool read...recommended!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen King, who is a friend and “first reader” of Stewart O’Nan, once said in an interview that literary fiction had a tendency to be about extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances while so called popular fiction is about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This novella deals with ordinary people doing ordinary things; and that makes it extraordinary — I wish there were more books like this.



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Stewart O'Nan proves that his eyes, ears and heart are always open. This deceptively slender volume holds more integrity than books 5 times its size. This story of a man who continues to maintain an honorable sense of correctness for his own innate decency, despite the understandable sense of "short termer's malaise," can't help but increase a reader's appreciation of what it takes to operate a familiar restaurant, especially if the reader's never had the opportunity to work in one. I know that I will never regard the person (usually wearing a tie) who is quietly watching all that goes on in my local restaurant, quite the same ever again.

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title says it all. This is a slim novel about the closing night of a Red Lobster in Connecticut. Manager Manny and his staff must get through the evening in spite of a snowstorm, disgruntled employees, and a few difficult customers. It seems realistic. Manny comes across as a hard-working guy who is sad that most of his employees are losing their jobs. He has a complicated relationship history. Not much happens. The main attraction is the interaction among the characters. I enjoyed it.

[Kathryn in FL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, 2.5 rounded up.

I read this more than a dozen years ago and didn't remember the story. When I saw someone's read list, I saw it and decided that I should reread it. This was entertaining while not particularly memorable.

The writing is strong though understated. We are shown rather than told and thus the reason for rounding up to 3.

Manny recently got notice that his Red Lobster restaurant will close, before Christmas, December 20 due to recently lower sales. While there has been recent road construction nearby that impacted sales numbers, corporate doesn't see wisdom in future operation and has offered him a demotion to assistant store manager at a nearby Olive Garden. He is allowed to "take" five employees and his choices were a bit difficult to make. Many employees quit upon learning of their upcoming termination. The last day, several of the remaining employees show up only to sabotage the day's operation and abruptly leaving the others showing up to pick up the slack, some who were offered Olive Garden positions. The day is fraught with old memories and challenges including a bad snow storm and power outage that further reduce customers and staffing.

These moments remind Manny of halcyon days and his continued difficulty in releasing his relationship with a waitress for whom he felt a deep connection, meanwhile, he also struggles with the morality of staying with his current partner, who is pregnant and pressing him for a more firm commitment (marriage) even though he doesn't foresee a future with her.

Manny is in fact, struggling with accepting the his future that doesn't glow nearly as bright as the Christmas lights in the restaurant.

While the reader likes Manny okay, his wishy washy feelings toward the past and present girlfriends makes him seem like a smuck (at least as a female reader). He seems like a decent boss but I would not be inclined to be his friend. He represents everyman (woman) at that time in their thirties or forties, when they suddenly realize that the sky isn't the limit. Life has plenty of limitations because of circumstances beyond our control, and dreams are a lot different than naked reality. Is that his biggest issue with commitment? He isn't clear. One thing he starts to realize, there comes a time, that one must come to accept life on life's terms.

A quick read, but we don't develop new insights from this tired theme.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is that all there is?

I find this book comforting, yet hollow.

I love little books. I enjoy it when books are pamphlets and not tomes. I think most authors and writers should be more concise.

But perhaps it turns out that I mean the books should be denser.

I don’t mind long books, if they are full of substance.

This book was thankfully short, but wholly unrewarding. The prose, plot, and characters were dull. The setting, of a mass retail chain’s last day I find comforting, as I experienced a similar setting a few months ago. However, I read this book on the recommendation of a list of books that was something along the lines of: modern-mystery-authors-would-write-better-books-if-they-read-stuff-like-this. I enjoy disagreeing with top lists, but this one simply confounds me.

I imagine there’s a deep analogy in there with the guys relationship and he girl and the guys relationship with the company, but I didn’t and don’t care enough about the characters to straighten out plot points that deep.

I’m not upset I spent a small amount of time reading it, but I’m certain there were better things I could have been reading.

[Emily M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in a Red Lobster in western Connecticut the night before the franchise is scheduled to close for good, I knew from the description that this book would be right up my alley. Red Lobster! Connecticut! The drudgery of working in the service industry! Check, check, check. The only thing that could make this book better is a basket of cheddar bay biscuits. Sigh.

This book is a real gem -- a true sit-down-and-read-cover-to-cover kind of novel. And I'm not just saying that because it's short... Stewart O'Nan manages to create specific and vivid characters -- and to capture the tension of their lives and of their current situations -- in just 150 pages. It is expertly written and truly evokes what it was like to work in the service industry during the hardest-hitting moments of our country's recent recession.

A new favorite! Add this one to your list!

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about a restaurant and the saga of being wintertime with the storms and customers. Kinda dry but I thought it was a three star read