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A review by trin
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
4.0
I work in a bookstore in an affluent neighborhood. Today, the following conversation occurred:
Customer: I want to return this book! (plunks Sweetbitter down on the counter)
Me: Okay, what was wrong with it?
Customer: It was stupid!
Me: Oh, I really liked it! But I could see how someone could find it kind of pretentious.
Customer: Yeah, all those waiters going around quoting Kant and Fitzgerald. It was ridiculous!
Me: (surprised, as this had not been what I'd meant at all) Oh...
Customer: A whole book about someone wanting to become a good waitress. I mean, who cares? What does it matter?
Me: (After a few beats of dead silence that stretch a little too long) Why don't you go ahead and pick out something else?
What I wanted to say, but couldn't -- because like the main character in Sweetbitter (you know, the waitress) I am in a service position that requires me to hold my tongue even when someone insults me to my face -- is that I thought Danler's depiction of her protagonist's aspirations and growth were gracefully handled. The style is indeed a little pretentious -- with short passages of all dialogue and other experimental stunts -- but for me it created an almost dreamlike quality that meshed beautifully with the main character's whirlwind of new experiences. This is a book about a young woman finding herself in a big, strange city, and starting her career, and gaining life experience. And yes, she does all of those things as a waitress. (You condescending bitch.)
I would hate to see how this customer tips.
Customer: I want to return this book! (plunks Sweetbitter down on the counter)
Me: Okay, what was wrong with it?
Customer: It was stupid!
Me: Oh, I really liked it! But I could see how someone could find it kind of pretentious.
Customer: Yeah, all those waiters going around quoting Kant and Fitzgerald. It was ridiculous!
Me: (surprised, as this had not been what I'd meant at all) Oh...
Customer: A whole book about someone wanting to become a good waitress. I mean, who cares? What does it matter?
Me: (After a few beats of dead silence that stretch a little too long) Why don't you go ahead and pick out something else?
What I wanted to say, but couldn't -- because like the main character in Sweetbitter (you know, the waitress) I am in a service position that requires me to hold my tongue even when someone insults me to my face -- is that I thought Danler's depiction of her protagonist's aspirations and growth were gracefully handled. The style is indeed a little pretentious -- with short passages of all dialogue and other experimental stunts -- but for me it created an almost dreamlike quality that meshed beautifully with the main character's whirlwind of new experiences. This is a book about a young woman finding herself in a big, strange city, and starting her career, and gaining life experience. And yes, she does all of those things as a waitress. (You condescending bitch.)
I would hate to see how this customer tips.