Synopsis Stewart O'Nan is in the same literary family as Raymond Carver and Denis Johnson--he has an unerring knack for the argot and angst of common working-class Americans. In LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER, manager Manny DeLeon seeks to keep his Red Lobster restaurant running on its final day before its doors are closed for good. Most of his staff has already jumped ship, the customers are crazed and complicated, and Manny's love life is a mess: his girlfriend is pregnant and wants a ring, but he's still got eyes for his former waitress Jacquie. Though O'Nan can be a brilliant plotter able to create tension akin to his buddy Stephen King, LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER is mostly about the texture of the moment and the dramas and tragedies of normal peoples' wonderful lives.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2007-11-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 146 pages | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 8.3 oz |
Publisher's Note Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down New England mall just before Christmas, Manny DeLeon coordinates a challenging final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift. 30,000 first printing.
Industry Reviews "O'Nan crafts a perfectly observed slice of working-class life." (11/09/2007)
"A rueful mood piece...very low-key, but haunting and quietly provocative." (08/15/2007)
"[Stewart O'Nan] is a poet of strip mall ennui, road rage, flourescent lighting....[and] there is a powerful dignity to [his characters]." (11/04/2007)
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