CCW Book Club - Last Night at the Lobster

In his 10th novel, Stewart O’Nan (MFA ’92) proves once again why he’s the “bard of the working class” by exploring how the closing of one chain restaurant profoundly affects many lives. Last Night at the Lobster may be a small story, dealing with the mundane details of restaurant life, but O’Nan’s complex characters provide a service—an everyday feat that many American novels ignore.

Almost all critics praised the novel as a triumph in realism. O’Nan has certainly written bigger, more plot-driven stories before, but Lobster shows off his “pitch perfect ear for life in late 20th century America” to great effect (San Francisco Chronicle). It’s a “Zen koan of a book” (Los Angeles Times), and not to be missed—especially if you’ve served your share of scampi in life.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

For more information, read this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/books/03stewart.html?_r=2