|
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter | 
 enlarge | Author: The Waiter
Publisher: Ecco
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.61
You Save: $9.34 (37%)
New (24) Used (13) from $13.70
Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 402
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061256684
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.95068
EAN: 9780061256684
ASIN: 0061256684
Publication Date: August 1, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Ships by USPS. 1+ million customers served-In business since 1986. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. Toll Free Support
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
According to The Waiter, eighty percent of customers are nice people just looking for something to eat. The remaining twenty percent, however, are socially maladjusted psychopaths. Waiter Rant offers the server's unique point of view, replete with tales of customer stupidity, arrogant misbehavior, and unseen bits of human grace transpiring in the most unlikely places. Through outrageous stories, The Waiter reveals the secrets to getting good service, proper tipping etiquette, and how to keep him from spitting in your food. The Waiter also shares his ongoing struggle, at age thirty-eight, to figure out if he can finally leave the first job at which he's truly thrived.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 103 more reviews...
 It's not the blog! August 28, 2008
I'm sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book. The author was honest when he named the book - "Waiter Rant" because it is a rant of a prejudiced and unhappy waiter. The author reveals a lot about himself in this book that has little to do with being a waiter and mostly to do with being a snob in a job he hates. The language in the book bothered me as did his cruel treatment of the kitchen staff, poor, mostly immigrant workers who had to use public transportation and barely made enough to support their families.
There were a few redeeming tales in the book - like when he waited on a young couple celebrating an anniversary and obviously were not able to afford to eat at the high end restaurant. Helping them select items from the menu that would cost less and asking the kitchen to put a little extra on the plate was unexpected.
If you enjoy reading the author's blog - keep reading the blog.
Factual, Philosophical, and Funny August 28, 2008
A cursory glance at `Waiter Rant's summary did not prepare me for the surprise I'd have actually reading it. With the subtitle "Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter" and the vague hints of pointed anecdotes about the frustrations of being a server, the descriptions only scratch the surface. Having psychology, sociology, movies and books at his disposal, the waiter is a resourceful humorist and philosopher.
Like many a server, the anonymous waiter yearns to be someone else. In this case a writer. Using wit and wisdom at his disposal he gives us a set of stories that weave in and out both seamlessly and episodically at the same time. A former seminarian, he constructs his book to match the four seasons, but like the liturgy he formerly read, his narrative unfolds vividly and without mincing metaphors.
I love how he balances his criticism with empathy for all of his true life characters and shares the unvarnished truth about poverty, sanitation, relationships, and bad customers.
Appetizers:
Humor: 1.) For the tyrant owner, the waiter offers this: "`Caesar's in the hospital,' Sammy says, close to weeping. `I want all of us to remember him in our prayers.' It soon becomes obvious the waiters aren't besieging heaven with requests to speed up Caesar's recovery. In fact, they're probably asking the Almighty for the exact opposite."
2.) For finicky customers: "Fussy eaters are an interesting evolutionary paradox. How did they manage to survive the primordial jungle and pass on their DNA?...I can just imagine some Stepford cave wife getting mauled by a saber-tooth tiger because she dithered between picking free-range mastadon and dietetic tree bark."
3.) And for fellow staff: "...I feel my prisoner struggle inside the napkin. For a moment I wonder what karmic sins it committed to deserve coming back as a cockroach. Maybe he was a concentration-camp guard, a serial killer, or a politician. Maybe he was a chef."
4.) For unwanted visitors: "'MADAM, STEP AWAY FROM THE SQUIRREL!' I yelled. With a hurt expression the animal do-gooder returned to her seat. Tough s---, lady. This is a restaurant. Not a petting zoo."
Compassion: For decent, poor customers: "'It's a little expensive,' his girlfriend says. 'I completely understand, madam,' I say in a conspiratorial whisper. 'I can't even afford to eat here.'"
Philosophy: "Not taking Mom out to a restaurant on Mother's Day is like Ebenezer Scrooge pistol-whipping Tiny Tim on Christmas morning."
Straight from the hip, about "the rest of us": "Was I out to lunch when the happiness and success genes were passed out?"
If there's a flaw in the book, it is when he restates that he feels like a loser waiting tables into his upper thirties. Although emphatic and fitting into each scene's reflection, it gets repetitious. Otherwise, this little tempered criticism comes from such a fun and engaging read.
In the end, `Waiter Rant' does for wait staff what `The Cracker Factory' did for alcoholic housewives. It is an insightful trip that thoroughly examines every nook and cranny of restaurant life, its every participant, and every funny philosophical thought as it comes to fruition in the author's mind. Blending Miss Manners with excruciatingly humorous anecdotes, the waiter does a skillful job of illuminating both the restaurant world and the life it frames.
Fascinating Look Into the Restaurant Business; However, Gets Repetitive and Simultaneously Off Topic - Too Drawn Out August 25, 2008
While ultimately a worthwhile read, Waiter Rant leaves something to be desired.
"The Waiter", Steve Dublanica, is a career waiter working at three restaurants throughout the book. He spends most of his time on The Bistro, a New York City 'fine dining' establishment. He serves the crassest of individuals to the nicest, most sensitive people one could hope to meet. And throughout the memoir (and in the appendixes) information about how to be a better customer is dispensed. However, I have a number of problems with Waiter Rant. They are as follows:
As a memoir, Waiter Rant succeeds until about page two hundred. At which time it gets repetitive. The stories The Waiter tells throughout are interesting in many ways. Each has its own morals or objectives but as the memoir goes on, the stories get very repetitive and almost a pain to read. Hearing about the waiter's point of view on holidays like Valentines Day or new years eve are interesting and informational - but that value is lost when tales of what happens behind the scenes become all similar. Don't get me wrong, each brings something new to the table but - in my opinion - Waiter Rant should have been cut off much sooner.
The second main problem I have with Waiter Rant is how a chronology of the success of his blog (and book deal) is interspersed throughout the memoir. Frankly, an update on his blog is not of concern to the rest of the book nor is it of any concern to readers outside those who follow it. At seemingly random points, the author inserts conversations about his blog or book with coworkers or narrates a paragraph or so about it. Not only is it somewhat irrelevant, but mentioning the writing process of the book as the reader is reading it disrupts the memoir's flow. Steve Dublanica takes away the magic of the book. It's like you're at a movie, completely engrossed in the film, and all of the sudden the lights go on - you realize you're not in the movie anymore but in a theater. That's the essence of what I'm trying to convey.
From a purely realist perspective, Waiter Rant provides valuable information on the restaurant service industry and on being a better customer and patron. The author indirectly answers many questions one may have about restaurants and - rather explicitly - lists important information one may want to use at the end.
Looking at the memoir from a pure entertainment perspective, I feel the first half or so was very entertaining - well written and thought out. However, by the end we see repetition though the writing style never fails.
All in all, this book deserves fours stars for the job it does in dispensing interesting, valuable information and most importantly being an entertaining read. Despite its shortcomings, I recommend picking it up at the library or - if you so desire - buying it at your local bookstore.
 Disappointing... August 24, 2008
I was expecting a lot more from this book. The waiter is rather whiny, and the customers described say little more than "unacceptable" when faced with less than what they feel entitled to. They're all rather homogenous. I've never read the blog, but I am not impressed with the writing and felt like it was more of a "me, me, me" story than a true description - or expose - on the behaviour encountered in restaurants. The waiter himself is not a very interesting character, and has little in the way of redeeming personality traits.He also seems to have a chip on his shoulder rather than any semblance of a sense of humor. Maybe the blog is better, but this doesn't make me want to read it. The whole going-to-the-seminary thing put me off at the beginning, so I fee like this guy has a lot of issues.
Occasionally hilarious August 24, 2008
I got a lot of insight into the world behind the swinging kitchen door in this book, which make me crack up out loud sometimes and rub my chin in thought at others, impressed by some of his observations. He can be a witty, sarcastic SOB from time to time (his background includes studying to be a priest -- to being the recipient of a lap dance in the back room of a stripclub. what a versatile guy!), which I love. But, I didn't find the book to be consistent. The editor definitely didn't do his/her job here because the pacing is all over the place. I do recommend Waiter Rant, however, especially for the stories about horribly rude customers that remind of me of how I've probably behaved sitting in a restaurant seat. I promise I won't act that way any more.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
