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Summary
Summary
In the tradition of modern classics The Dinner and A Gentleman in Moscow comes The Waiter , in which the finely tuned balance of a grand European restaurant (that has seen better days) is irrevocably upset by an unexpected guest.
In a centuries-old European restaurant called The Hills, a middle-aged waiter takes pride in the unchangeable aspects of his job: the well-worn uniform, the ragged but solid tablecloths, and the regular diners. Some are there daily, like Graham "Le Gris"--also known as The Pig--and his dignified group of aesthetes; the slightly more free-spirited drinking company around Tom Sellers; and the closest one can get to personal friends of the waiter, Edgar and his young daughter, Anna.
In this universe unto itself, there is scarcely any contact between the tables...until a beautiful and well-groomed young woman walks through the door and upsets the delicate balance of the restaurant and all it has come to represent.
Like living in a snow globe, The Waiter is a captivating study in miniature. Everything is just so, and that's exactly how the waiter needs it to be. One can understand why he becomes anxious when things begin to change. In fact, given the circumstances, anxiety just might be the most sensible response...
With the sophistication of The Remains of the Day and the eccentricity of The Elegance of the Hedgehog , The Waiter marks the North American debut of an exciting new voice in literary fiction.
Author Notes
Matias Faldbakken is a world-renowned contemporary artist and writer who shows with the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York, and has been hailed as one of the freshest new voices to emerge in Norwegian literature during the past decade. The Waiter is his first novel in nine years and the very first he has written under his own name.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Faldbakken's English-language debut is an ambitious, contained story set entirely in a grand old restaurant in Oslo called The Hills, narrated by a seasoned waiter over the course of a few gorgeous meals. The waiter and others on the staff-the nosy bar manager mixing drinks, the snooty maitre d' sneaking drinks, the silent chef-find themselves ever more scandalized by the uncharacteristic behavior of their usually impeccably mannered clientele (one even takes out his phone) after a beautiful young woman joins the intimate setting. The waiter becomes so unsettled by the disruption of his establishment's quotidian rituals that he finds himself in the kitchen smashing all the chef's cherry tomatoes in the garlic press. He is almost completely undone when another patron asks to leave his daughter at the restaurant while he goes on a day trip, but the waiter musters enormous kindness by entertaining the child with an unusual-looking cauliflower. The story is absurd-when the scents of two diners mix, it is "equivalent to the miracle of mayonnaise... something completely new and special occurs between them"-about nothing, and everything. Faldbakken's story vandalizes the old world the restaurant represents by revealing its inanities, while at the same time eulogizing it by making it his subject, resulting in a clever, striking novel. (Oct.) c Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Disturbances in the routines of an old restaurant unhinge the head waiter in this droll, understated debut novel by a Norwegian artist and writer.The Hills restaurant in central Oslo dates from the mid-1800s and aspires to a Continental ambience, although it has succumbed to grubbiness and grime over the years. As the unnamed waiter opens the narrative, he mentions tradition, alludes to regularity, and defines his role: "I wait. I please." But something is off. A normally punctual regular known as "the Pig" is 11 minutes late. Worse: One of his expected guests is even later. When she does appear, she's an attractive young woman who "looks like debauchery dressed as asceticism." Is the waiter smitten? There are other disturbances over the course of several days. The Pig wants to do business with another patron. Regulars leave their usual tables and commingle. A meal is ordered in reverse, starting with the cheese trolley. The waiter makes a serving error, then another. He injures his hand in the cellar, and the chef performs surgery on the resulting blood blister in a stomach-turning scene. The waiter inexplicably finds himself in the kitchen putting cherry tomatoes through a garlic press. The chef orders him to get replacements from the cellar, and there begins the odyssey of the Romanesco, a sort of cauliflower that tickles the waiter's fancy. He presents it to the chef instead of the tomatoes. He carries it with him to wait on the young lady. He leaves it on the bar. It's all so out of character. And what horror does the waiter discover on the mezzanine, where Johansen plays piano nonstop? Bringing to mind Mervyn Peake and Wes Anderson, with some of Nathanael West's deadpan grotesque, this is a beguiling, quirky entertainment. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Norwegian author Faldbakken's U.S. debut unfolds over five days inside The Hills, an Oslo establishment akin to (though decidedly not as grand as) the Grand European restaurants of yore: marble tables; uniformed staff; creased everything; snails on the menu. The Hills' routines comfort our eponymous (and unnamed) narrator even the few memories he shares take place there. Old Johansen's at the piano, Old Pedersen checks coats, the kitchen ceiling's blackened to soot, and the flowers on the bar are starting to rot. Truly, everything at The Hills is old. (Jarring mentions of social media remind readers it's the present day.) The waiter excels at decrumbing surfaces, being self-effacing, and bottling up emotion, but he might be coming undone. A mysterious new female customer throws him with her mere presence and then, much worse, by connecting formerly distinct groups of restaurant regulars. Faldbakken, who's also a visual artist, paints The Hills' interiors, the waiter's psyche, and diners' interactions with a deep, often-funny theatricality. For those who love encapsulated novels with a touch of the absurd.--Annie Bostrom Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
THE IMPOSTOR: A Trae Story, by Javier Cercas. Translated by Frank Wynne. (Vintage, $17.) For three decades, Enric Marco, a Catalan mechanic, was a prominent public face of Spanish survivors of the Holocaust - until his story was revealed to be a hoax. Cercas unravels the horrific, yet wildly successful, lie, raising questions about the truth and its consequences and investigating the uneasy kinship he felt with the disgraced man. THE WAITER, by Matias Faldbakken. Translated by Alice Menzies. (Scout Press, $16.) At the Hills, a fusty fine-dining restaurant in Oslo, the title character goes off the rails. Rattled by patrons whose preferences endanger the old guard, the waiter, who prided himself on his impeccable presentation and service, descends into neurosis: mixing up orders, giving nonsensical answers. BUILT: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures, by Roma Agrawal. (Bloomsbury, $18.) A pioneering engineer behind some of the world's tallest towers shares her enthusiasm and appreciation for her craft. The "engineered universe is a narrative full of stories and secrets," Agrawal writes, and the book unveils many of the discipline's solutions to the world's problems. The astonishing ingenuity of engineers makes for fascinating reading. DAYS OF AWE: Stories, by A. M. Flomes. (Penguin, $17.) The absurd and the delicate live side by side in these 12 selections, all shot through with Homes's brand of dark humor. The title story follows a war reporter and a novelist who meet at a conference on genocide (one whose intentions are somewhat undercut by its corporate sponsors) and carry on an affair. Our reviewer, Ramona Ausubel, praised the collection, writing that "everything has a sharp edge, is strikingly beautiful and suddenly also a little menacing." SQUEEZED: Why Our Families Can't Afford America, by Alissá Quart. (Ecco/HarperCollins, $16.99.) Quart coins the term the "Middle Precariat" to describe the swath of Americans whose financial situations are increasingly tenuous. Many of the families she interviews speak of the guilt and shame they feel about their circumstances, though the book makes an argument that personal discipline is not to blame. THE MIDDLEMAN, by Olen Steinhauer. (Picador, $18.) A timely new thriller imagines what would happen if an organized anticapitalist fervor swept the United States. One day, hundreds of Americans across the country simply vanish, raising fears that the organization, known as the Massive Brigade, is actually a terrorist group. Though Steinhauer asks political questions, they don't get in the way of suspense.
Library Journal Review
Waiting for Godot meets Kitchen Confidential meets Seinfeld, this hilarious, beautifully written, gleefully postmodernist novel by contemporary artist and Norwegian writer Faldbakken is a delight from start to finish. Set in a distinguished old European restaurant that has been in business since the 1880s, the novel is told through the eyes of one of its waiters. This gentleman has a long history at the restaurant, but he does not appear to have much of a life at all beyond his job. His commitment to his craft-and especially to "regularity and service"-has an existentialist cast to it because, as he admits, it acts as a "bulwark against inner noise" and appears to be protecting/distracting him from some kind of shadowy or painful past, or maybe even a shadowy or painful present. Not much happens in the novel. Longtime patrons come and go, and an attractive young woman has joined one group of regulars and appears to be also on friendly terms with another group of competing regulars. Eventually, there is a scuffle between these two clans and a piece of fennel salami is thrown. The waiter observes all this with a curious and attentive eye, as Faldbakken brings to life the comedy and absurdity of daily life with inspired wit and skill. Verdict Put on the shelf with Samuel Beckett. Essential for literary fiction fans.-Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.