Last Night at the Lobster

Authors: Stewart O'Nan
Challenge: Alphabet Readers (O title)
Date Finished: February 23, 2008
Rating: 4.5/5

"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." (from the dust jacket)

The entire story is set in a one day time span, the last day of business at a Red Lobster restaurant located in the far corner of a New England Mall. The story centers around the general manager of the restaurant, Manny DeLeon. Traveling from the opening of business to the close, the reader gets to see and hear Manny's thoughts and internal struggles as he comes to terms with what is happening to the place he has worked for so proudly for the past few years and the employees who have arrived to live out that last day of business with him.

From the moment I read a review stating the idea behind the book I HAD to read it. I am a former employee of Red Lobster and wanted to see how true the story rang. To be honest there were a few things that didn't seem to fit, but overall the story was believable...and after all the book wasn't just about the restaurant, but more importantly the people who work for and make up the restaurant. Last Night at the Lobster is defiantly not an action based story, but I feel the author did a wonderful job of showing some of the internal struggles, happiness, and sorrows of an average working man. I loved the book and although the ending left me wondering what would happen next for each character I felt it was an entirely appropriate ending for the story line.