Last Night at the Lobster

Manny has managed a Red Lobster restaurant for years, but today is his last day. In fact, it’s the last day for all employees since the parent company decided to close this location. Many have already quit, but Manny managed to assemble a skeleton crew for the day. The restaurant is next to a shopping mall and it’s nearly Christmas, so they would normally be very busy. But a snowstorm threatens, and nobody knows how the day will play out.

As the restaurant opens and they begin lunch service, we get to know Manny and his crew. Manny is dealing with loss and regret, at the restaurant and in his personal life. Some employees have been offered jobs at a nearby Olive Garden, sparking resentment from others. A few bail as the weather gets show more worse. Manny insists on staying open for dinner, aided by his most loyal staff who rise to the occasion, making their last night together both poignant and memorable.

Stewart O’Nan takes a very subtle approach to character and plot development, infusing this novella with human interest and emotion while still leaving much unsaid. The reading experience is simply lovely. show less

With Last Night At the Lobster, author Steward O’Nan has perfectly captured a moment in time that made the reading experience feel quite voyeuristic. The final hours of a Red Lobster Restaurant in New England occurring on a snowy night just five days before Christmas had an authenticity about it that made the reading all the more poignant. I have often frequented these types of chain restaurants that are housed in the back end of a mall parking lot and so the book had a familiar yet despondent note.

More of a mood piece than an actual story, we step into the restaurant and immediately are caught up in the employee’s last shift. As the manager, Manny opens the restaurant we learn that corporate management is closing them down. Some show more have jobs to move onto and others are being simply let go. It’s understandable that most of the employees who are being let go fail to show up, leaving the rest to scramble to keep the business flowing smoothly. A few customers-from-hell, a couple of surly employees, and the blighted love affair of the manager and one of the waitresses liven up the final hours of the Red Lobster but as the hours tick down the overall feeling is one of sadness.

Although very low key Last Night At The Lobster is a haunting and unforgettable glimpse into the lives of a group of service industry workers who are facing the reality of job change or loss. I read this book in pretty much one sitting and was totally absorbed. show less

Stewart O’Nan’s novella is the story of Manny, an overweight, eager-to-please manager of a Red Lobster that is going out of business. We follow Manny through his last day on the job as he tries to fulfill his duties and motivate the remaining staff, not to mention puzzle through his relationship with one of the waitresses. It may sound like a dull premise, but it’s not. I love novellas – when they are well done – because an author has to be able to do a lot with very little. O’Nan has produced an excellent portrait of a hard working guy who, despite his best efforts, can’t seem to catch a break. It’s bleak and sad, and yet the pride Manny takes in his work is also moving and somehow beautiful. And it gave me a hankering show more for a cheddar bay biscuit… show less

Manny is the manager of a rundown Red Lobster in New England. He comes to work at 11:00 A.M. on Dec. 22 just like he always does, ready to do the best job he can at his Lobster. It's a Saturday, always the busiest day of the week and he wonders who will show up for work that day.

In 12 hours the restaurant will close. Not for that day like all the other Saturdays through the years, but for the last time. In just 12 hours the restaurant will no longer exist and the employees will no longer exist either.

The book begins with Manny driving into the parking lot and it ends with Manny being the last to drive out. In between O'Nan doesn't make one misstep. His characters are genuine and the setting is one that I can see, smell and hear. It show more turns out to be a bad weather day with a snowstorm driving customers home. Since only a few come in the employees have time to talk. We learn about a shattered romance, about silly rivalries, about good intentions, about loyalty. Some characters have painful shortcomings and some have survival skills. Manny is a sterling guy just hoping he can figure out how to talk to the waitress that doesn't want him no matter how much he loves her and what to do about his pregnant girlfriend he's not sure he wants to marry. The story is touching because we know these people and wish they weren't caught up in this storm. show less

Although Last Night at the Lobster is set a few days before Christmas, it isn't a feel-good Christmas story. It's the story of an ending – of the closure of a Red Lobster in suburban New England, of the last day its employees will spend together, and of the final chapter in the aftermath of an affair between the manager and one of the servers. The tone feels like a melancholy New Year's Eve. It's also a story of labor vs. management, and its main character, “Manny”, could be viewed as an Everyman. Although Manny is the restaurant's manager and could be viewed as middle management, he feels closer to the laborers he spends his days with than to the faceless corporate bureaucrats in a remote location. This behind-the-scenes look at show more the restaurant industry left me wanting to be a more generous tipper (and I'm not particularly stingy in that respect). It also reminded me of all the reasons I like to support locally-owned businesses. show less

This is well nigh perfect. It tells of the last shift at the Red Lobster, a chain restaurant that is shutting down on the 20th December. Manny, as the manager, has to deal with a short & disgruntled staff, a snow storm and his own personal life, which is a bit of a mess. In love with a waitress, Jacquie, his girlfriends, Deena is pregnant and he has no idea what to get her for Christmas. If you want a plot driven book, then this is probably not for you, there isn't a lot of plot. What it is instead is a character study, what makes people tick, why the continue to care (or not) when they are on the verge of losing their job.
It put me in mind of the writing by Claire Keegan, that same lack of action, the same focus on the small details show more of a life. Slightly less sparse and pared down, this is by no means a bloated book in need of an editor. It makes for a very good read.

Re-read. This is just as engaging on a second reading as it was the first. show less

A few years ago, at the start of the Covid pandemic, the Pizza Hut in our town closed down, as did a lot of restaurants. Sadly, its corporate headquarters made the decision to close it permanently. I've often wondered what happened to the dozen or more employees who lost jobs there. Well, Stewart O'Nan's acclaimed 2007 novel, LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER, opens a window into a similar situation, giving human faces and feelings to the workers at a Red Lobster near a failing Massachusetts mall. Their last day plays out from the viewpont of the Lobster manager, Manny DeLeon, a long-time and conscientious 'company man,' who has other problems - a pregnant girlfriend he doesn't really
love, and a waitress he still loves, though their affair has show more long since fizzled, and several unhappy workers who have shown up for this last day of work. And it's all set against a massive winter storm just four days before Christmas. O'Nan works his trademark magic of 'inhabiting' his main character, putting the reader inside Manny's head - and heart - in this awkward and, at times, heartbreaking final day of work at the restaurant.

I've often seen comments from O'Nan fans that this is their favorite of his books. Now I understand that enthusiasm, although I also wonder if they might have loved it for its brevity, at less than 150 pages. But the fact that whole lives are so vividly represented in those few pages says a lot. This is, I think, my thirteenth O'Nan book, so obviously I'm a fan. Loved this one too. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less