A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City

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there are many reviews arguing for another round of editing to get rid of some redundant theme pages and while I agree it COULD do with that editing I don’t find it necessary as it brings the reader into the repetitive day to day that the author was experiencing. Working long, grueling shifts, Chisholm reveals that the staff often scraped by on stolen cigarette breaks and stale coffee and rolls. Edward Chisholm has an important story to tell, and it’s told in a fast-paced, cleverly woven style. I really wasn't expecting to be quite so gripped but the experiences that unfolded on the pages before me, drew me ever deeper.

I worked as a waiter in college, though under much different conditions, so I could relate just a little. Edward Chisholm’s brilliant memoir shows us the behind-the-scenes chaos, but also lets us tour nocturnal Paris and the strange characters he meets. This book is fluently written and gives a grim view of a waiter’s job that won’t make you more disposed to enjoy your meal.Thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who wants an insight into the French at all levels of society. Mine is a world in which the boundaries get tighter and tighter until you can’t really see beyond it. But it doesn’t matter because you’re in Paris, the centre of the universe, and there’s nowhere else you’d rather be in the world. A Waiter In Paris is a searing account of what life is really like ‘at the bottom of the food chain’, and Chisholm’s prose positively delights in describing the graffiti, sodden cardboard boxes and litter-strewn pavements. For all the infectiously intense moments and the genuine interest Chisholm drags out of his experience, it is still unclear why anyone would wish to become a waiter in such a bustling city.

A more thorough editing would have trimmed it neatly by about 50 pages; getting rid of some unnecessary repetition of ideas and slightly cliched sentences (for example, "the sound of a woman's heels clipping along the pavement" too many times; and the continual explosive anger of a low-level manager became wearisome (although not as wearisome as it was for the author no doubt! If you’re looking for glowing Paris descriptions and Instagram moments, this is not that book (though glorious Paris and Paris moments do pepper the book, briefly).It’s here he finds out that the Parisian waiter is a breed apart, and it becomes clear that he may not have what it takes to make the grade. Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter takes you beneath the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world—and right into its glorious underbelly. I feel like the author had so much to mine from and given the other food memoirs I've read this just didn't stack up. A Waiter in Paris is not just a powerful piece that documents perseverance in the face of stubborn doubt, but also a strong companion piece to Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. Having lived in France, much of what's reported rings true and the social commentary is pretty apt, even if there are a couple of stretches made with comparisons.