Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

This book chronicles, as its title suggests, the last day of operations at a small town Red Lobster restaurant. Working with the skeletal remains of his staff, manager Manny tries to reach the very end with dignity and compassion. This little novel worked for me. Its ambitions, as far as they go, aren't huge in terms of plot--just 12 hours, and while the novel is very attentive to class issues, to economics, and so forth, it just isn't trying to be the Great Novel of the Proletariat or the Great American Novel--and succeeds the better for doing a more constrained vision well. The novel's style was enjoyable--which is to say it reads very quickly--and I wasn't struck with any annoying stylistic tics, but on the other hand, there were few passages I wanted to remember for their sheer beauty. I look forward to reading more of Stewart O'Nan's work.