"Turning Tables" is written by identical twins who drew on their own
experience as waitresses at restaurants in New York City, Nantucket,
Mass., and San Francisco. They've distilled those memories into the
story of Erin Edwards, 28, who loses her corporate job in a downsizing.
Desperate for cash, she takes a waitressing job at a chic Manhattan
restaurant. Disasters ensue.
She has zero experience, and it shows in this high-pressure
environment, ruled by her demanding and sharp sharp-tongued bosses.
Early on, she's flummoxed by the finer points of folding napkins at
high speed, and sent sprawling in front of the temperamental head chef
because her shoes weren't designed for greasy spots.
Then there's tackling the psychological challenge of reading and
pleasing the high-roller clientele. "You have to be part of their
fantasy," her sympathetic mentor explains. "It's all about controlling
the guest's experience, and that means adapting to every table. When
I'm talking to guests, I'm not me any more. I'm ... whoever they want
me to be."
Frankly, she's told, none of her peers on the staff expected her to
last more than a week. But she's determined not to give in. She plunges
on through traumas such as dealing with a shrieking child in the hushed
dining room and waiting on a powerful restaurant critic. Throw in
romances with a cook and a well-to-do customer - who furnishes a
humiliating reminder of a waitresses' social standing among his peers -
and there's more than enough to keep this story humming.
And it does. Surely there's a movie in such a feel-good tale with
outsized personalities, high-pressure action and an attractive young
heroine. Until somebody makes it, the book will surely satisfy your
appetite for a good tale.
Dial Press, 324 pages, $24.
TOWN CENTER BOOKSELLERS STAFF PICK
'In Defense of Food'
by Michael Pollan
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That's the first line (and a
synopsis) of Michael Pollan's latest effort, "In Defense of Food: An
Eater's Manifesto." As the quotation suggests, the book is on many
levels a how-to guide for people wading through the myriad food choices
we're confronted with every day. But Pollan's argument doubles as an
informative tour through the history of nutritionism and how we came to
be so obsessed with what we put in our bodies. It's a concise
narrative, and a perfect compliment to Pollan's previous, bestselling
effort, "The Omnivore's Dilemma." - Town Center Booksellers
OTHER STAFF PICKS:
"Deep Economy" by Bill McKibben
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver
"The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Waters
"Blessed Unrest" by Paul Hawken
