Last Night at the Lobster

By Stewart O'Nan

Manny is the manager of the Red Lobster and we get to know him on its closing day. Even though he has another job waiting for him at Olive Garden (owned by the same corporation that owns Red Lobster), the new job is a step down since he will only be the assistant manager there. So this will be Manny's last day as boss and he has decided he will carry through and do the best he can. But it isn't going to be easy. First of all, he is short staffed as some of his employees couldn't be bothered to show up for the last day. This means Manny has to take up the slack, helping out in the kitchen, helping set up tables out front, doing the routine maintenance like putting deicer on the snowy sidewalk. Secondly, a big snowstorm is bearing down on the community and Manny has to fight to keep the sidewalks cleared, make sure the snow plow does the parking lot and then have to cope with a power failure that shuts down the lights but not the kitchen. Complicating things even more are Manny's feelings for one of the servers, a woman Manny was involved with until she ended it. Even though he has a pregnant girlfriend, Manny is still enamored with this other woman. After this day he will never see her again and this is the last chance for Manny to reach out to her.
Manny wants this last night at the Red Lobster to be stellar even though every thing seems to be conspiring to spoil it for him, from selfish customers, vengeful employees, and foul weather to an indifferent ex-lover.

Manny is a real heart-breaker, yearning as he does what he can't have anymore, his old job and his old girlfriend. Even though his world is crashing down around his ears he still holds it together and runs the restaurant with grace and competence. Reading about his last day as manager makes one wish that it could all work out for him, that a last minute reprieve will be granted him and his restaurant. Following Manny as he overcomes the day's challenges and deals with his own lost expectations was a memorable and interesting experience.