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Jennifer
Rating:
Review
This is a story about Manny, who is trying to manage the last lunch and dinner shift of a failed Red Lobster restaurant. He hangs desperately to routine as he instructs the very few employees left to run the shift as they always would – despite a severe winter storm that keeps any sane person off the streets, especially for the dinner shift that evening. Manny is struggling with disappointment in his job, being in love with the wrong girl, and knowing he must keep his daily routine despite all odds and common sense to somehow save his spirit and soul. This book is written so simply, yet somehow with immense detail. It was sad and endearing at the same time, presenting to us Americana life, and how the human spirit protects itself in the bleakest of conditions. It is a very quick read that is worth sitting down to devour, just like those yummy cheesy biscuits the Lobster serves.
Best Line:
"Sometimes, selfishly, he wishes she was so lost in him she wouldn't have been able to save them from doing something stupid."
Kim
Rating:
Review
This trim novel begins with Manny, an admirable man with a hard job to do. He is the manager of a Red Lobster in Connecticut that is being closed down, and he needs to get through this one last day. It's quite the day too, just a few days before Christmas, and with a diminished staff, some who are going with Manny to a nearby Olive Garden and others that know they aren't, a severe snowstorm on tap, and Manny's ex-flame Jacquie stirring things up within him that are best left alone. When Manny takes a break to shop for his current girlfriend at the mall across the street, we see him in all his honor and shortcomings for that brief 30 minutes. If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you'll find this story rings true on so many levels.
Best Line:
regarding money, "It's just green ink on paper, and not worth a man's honor, his abuelita would say, but, never having had money, he can't help but think that's what this whole deal is about."
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