Bethanne Patrick

Recommended Reading: 'Last Night at the Lobster'
November 4, 2007

I'm fond of historical fiction, and while today's selection is not technically an historical novel, bear with me for a minute while I explain why Stewart O'Nan's slim new novel Last Night at the Lobster reminds me of what I love about historical fiction.

                                                     

In historical novels, every item counts: each utensil, garment, phrase, and event has been placed to provide context and meaning. Often contemporary novels grow dated quickly because an author throws in details that seem fun, or provide sensory interest -- but mean nothing five or ten years later. 

While Last Night at the Lobster is set in present-day New England, the book feels honed -- which is why, though slim, it reads as a completely realized work. It's closing time for New Britain, Connecticut's Red Lobster, and manager Manny DeLeon wants to make it through the day and the holiday season without losing any more of his grip on work, love, and all the rest of life. Like any hero on a journey, Manny will be tested: by the weather (there's a blizzard), by his staff (especially his ex, Jacquie), and by his customers (from ill-behaved to poignant).

Like Richard Russo, O'Nan tackles social class in America's economically troubled Northeast Corridor without resorting to cliche. Manny's left foot, right foot struggles, from prepping his restaurant's stations to choosing the ideal gift for his pregnant girlfriend, seem fateful and mighty not because the character himself has any notions of importance, but because O'Nan gracefully and honestly demonstrates how tough things really are out there in the cold.

In a decade or three, readers will be able to pick up Last Night at the Lobster and immediately feel the lung-collapsing cold of a New England night and the ego-deflating feel of a final pay envelope. O'Nan didn't set out to write an historical novel, and that's why what he's written will stand the test of time.

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on November 4, 2007 | Comments (2)