Last Night at the Lobster
by Stewart O'Nan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stewart O'NanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-28
ISBN: 0143114425
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Last Night at the Lobster
Book Review: Real
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm one of those people who believes a story lives or dies by its characters. If you don't care about the people in a story, anything that happens to them is meaningless. Plot, setting, even theme are all subservient to sympathetic characters. They don't even have to be particularly righteous or overly flawed or funny or pathetic or whatever. They just have to be real. Stewart O'Nan's "Last Night at the Lobster" is one of those rare books that exemplifies this notion.
It's a few days before Christmas. The barely-hanging-on New England town of New Britain is getting hammered by a winter storm. It's the last day for the Red Lobster at the Willow Brook Mall out on Route 9. In the grand scheme of things, nothing extraordinary; after today, life will continue to go on. No one should even give this place a second glance. Or care one iota about the people in it. Yet by the end of the story, you're left with a deep ache of compassion for these all too human -- all too real -- characters. Why?
"Last Night at the Lobster" is really the story of the restaurant's manager, Manny DeLeon, a thirty-something, overwrought dude with a pregnant girlfriend, a waitress he's really in love with, and a crew that alternately hates and respects him, depending on the situation, their morals, or some other unseen alchemy. Manny is cautious to the point of paralysis. He's not one of those clueless guys meandering through life, taking or dealing with whatever the world throws at him. He knows exactly what to do -- what will make him happy, what will make his life complete -- but just can't find the will or energy to make it happen. Manny is a mirror in front of all of us, reflecting back every moment of indecision, every instance where we've said "no" when we've really meant "yes." He is the epitome of the literary Everyman, a character relatable to all, but who at the same time makes us uncomfortable with what he represents. Manny shows us something we may not have known about ourselves. And while the crew at the Lobster is secondary to Manny's story, their realism adds an important dimension to the novel. These background players are not necessarily people you would want to sit down and have a random drink with; rather, they are those you get to know and love over time. They're your co-workers, your classmates, your quiet neighbors; they're the real people in your life. The Lobster crew is the group that gives a person character, and as such, makes the main character shine.
I finished "Last Night at the Lobster" in one gray, autumn afternoon, in three distinct sitting broken only by an errand and dinner. Without these interruptions I would have surely completed the novel in one unbroken stream. Yes, it's that good. Even though you know nothing shocking is going to happen -- the crew isn't going to be attacked by a serial killer or otherworldly demons; Santa Claus isn't going to bring them a reprieve from closing -- the life dramas played out on the pages keep you turning them until the finale. O'Nan has a real winner here.
Summary of Last Night at the Lobster
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.
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.
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