Merritt Tierce

It's hard to put a rating on this, but I'm thinking four if only because of how quickly it drew me in. I read 70 percent of it in excerpts at work, and on my lunch break; the second I cracked the cover I knew I was going to keep reading until I finished. It's essentially Waiter Rant plus Crank, only without Hopkins' just-say-no agenda. There's no moralizing, just what is, and what is is pretty damn rough sometimes. Not for anyone who doesn't read sex scenes.

Side note: Not living in New York show more or Baltimore or Chicago I don't often get the experience of reading a book set in places I know, and it was fun to see her mention streets I drive down and neighborhoods I know. You can connect with a book in a different way when the character says she has a dry cleaner's on Greenville and Belmont and you know the place because you were just there last night. show less

www.shelfnotes.com review

Dear Reader,

Boy, this was gritty. It made me blush, which is pretty hard to do. I love Palahniuk, so this should have been a cake-walk. In truth, it was but I could see SO many readers turn away from this book due to the language and sleazy situations. As dirty as this book is, the truth is... so is real life (especially in the foodservice industry). This novel should be read as a warning as to what life can give you and how you should avoid the crap (a don't end up show more like this! cautionary tale). We all know someone like Marie, the slutty waitress that has no inhibition and lets people walk all over her. Some will look at her with disgust, others with pity but after reading this book... just MAYBE, the looks will change to understanding. Some people get shit on and others let it happen. This is life. This is the essence of this book. Truth, dirty and real and nothing you can do will stop it from happening. There are times I want to scream at the book and take a chunk out of it with my teeth.

Have any of you worked in the food industry? I did briefly, and from my experience this book is pretty dead on. Each little detail of what a day is like during the hustle and bustle of a mealtime is perfectly, horribly accurate. Hard work, end of story. I almost think that the way the job is might have something to do with the drugs, drinking and debauchery that happen, to get away from reality. Nobody wants to live like that forever, right? Theres parts of this book that make me feel grimey, like if I took my finger and rubbed it on the page, it would come back black with grime. I liked this book but do I think this is everyones cup of tea? No way. Do I think it's important to have a book that shows the perspective of a messed up girl working her butt off? Yes. People like this exist and I'll even admit that I've had my moments throughout the years that I can be ashamed of... but should we shy away from the reality of it? No. If you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty (well, maybe more your mind), read this book, I can promise you you'll learn something.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug show less

This was written two years before Sweetbitter (2016), another turgid novel about a floundering server in a high end restaurant. I dislike them equally because both first person narrators are young women who invite abuse due to low self-esteem or whatever, I just don't care. Marie has a daughter who she can't live with because she isn't responsible enough to care for her. So what would have happened to this child if her husband hadn't stepped in? There's no evidence of childhood abuse here, show more no discernible explanation for her encouraging every man she meets to mistreat her, no justification for her burning herself with hot metal objects. I supposed she's mentally ill, but she just comes off as a horrible person. "In that restaurant all of us were off. Maybe that's just what it is to be alive, you've got that broken sooty piece of something lodged inside you making you veer left." I usually am not bothered by unlikeable characters, but this one's too much for me, even with her Iowa Writers Workshop cred and bigshot blurbs.

Quotes: "Some kinds of pain make fine antidotes to others."

"Matt would sit forward in his chair to catch the invisible gazelles of wisdom leaping out of her mouth." show less

A crossroads book about living in that disconnect between the life you choose and the life that chooses you.

Marie is a damn good waitress, a half-hearted mother, and an on-again, off-again junkie who derailed off the straight and narrow when she became pregnant on the verge of attending Yale. Instead of going to college, she starts waitressing. The book chronicles a life spent in shadows of what was, what will be, and what is.

Not a bad book, but I was let down by all the hype. I wanted show more something spectacular to jump out and grab me besides the story. That's why only 3 1/2 stars. show less