Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down New England mall just before Christmas, Manny DeLeon coordinates a challenging final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift

An accurate portrait of the mood of a crew in the last day before closing down a restaurant. This took me back a couple years, which is a sign of great writing.

This is just a small slice of life for these people at this Red Lobster. We get a lot of behind the scenes views of what it is like to work in a restaurant. None of these people are perfect, but they are all trying. You probably won't look at a Red Lobster the same way again. You will be expecting to see Manny, Jackie, Kendra, and the others to be there.

This is a short book, with many characters considering its length. I was impressed that I could track each character, even though who never show up. This story is a vignette - one significant day in the life of a restaurant manager.

It's the last night for the Red Lobster at the edge of an old mall in New England. The night is snowy and there are not many customers. Tomorrow, the restaurant will close forever. A perfect time to listen in as employees talk together and discuss the difficulties of living in 21st century America on a tight budget with a small circle of acquaintances. The manager relates the minute-by-minute events of the last evening, the snow falling, the troubled staff, the customers who drift in.