Critics' Opinion:
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Published Nov 2007
160 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
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. With four shopping days left until Christmas, Manny must convince his near-mutinous staff to hunker down and serve 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 at home, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
"Small but not slight, the novel is a concise, poignant portrait of a man on the verge of losing himself." - Publishers Weekly.
"He offers no political message, merely the reminder that blue-collar lives are as charged with moral quandaries and professional difficulties as those of their better-dressed, more affluent fellow Americans. Very low-key, but haunting and quietly provocative." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. O'Nan's tenth novel (after The Good Wife) demonstrates once again why the author is known as the 'bard of the working class.'.... This slice-of-life novel is funny, poignant, and exquisitely rendered." - Library Journal.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Stewart O'Nan's award-winning fiction includes Snow Angels, The Speed Queen, A Prayer for the Dying, and Last Night at the Lobster. Granta named him one of America’s Best Young Novelists. He was born and raised and lives in Pittsburgh.
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