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

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Waiting tables is physically demanding work, frequently humiliating, and incredibly competitive. 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. Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman. He inhabits a world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep, and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread, and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you're fighting your colleagues for tips. Your colleagues—including thieves, narcissists, ex-soldiers, immigrants, wannabe actors, and drug dealers—are the closest thing to family that you've got.

The waiter inhabits a world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you’re fighting your colleagues for tips. Edward Chisholm's book is vividly written and merciless in its detail. Paris and its pleasures always leave one wondering about the seamier side beneath the surface, and here it is. I'd advise readers to enjoy it somewhere warm and comfortable, and on no account to try it before a gastronomic weekend. -- Edward Stourton This is more a memoir of the author as a young man -- twenty something, an aspiring journalist with no gritty life experience to reveal. His months as a Parisian waiter (actually, mostly as a "runner", aspiring to be a waiter) provide the robust, colourful and often treacherously difficult writer's fodder. Indeed, if you are looking for the glamour, sweetness and beauty routinely associated with this European city, this bio is not going to provide it. However, if you are looking for an authentic experience as well as some beautiful character creation (with a side of personal growth ), you will absolutely enjoy this.

A Waiter in Paris

Disclosure: I received an advance, uncorrected proof of the e-book from the publisher. I was not asked to write about the book, nor am I being compensated for doing so. This blog post was not reviewed by the publisher prior to publishing. All opinions 100% my own. If you’ve ever been to Paris and you’ve eaten in a restaurant, you’ll likely have no idea what goes on behind the kitchen door but there’s a whole other world there with its own hierarchy and rules that, unless you really understand how it works, can be impossible to break into (especially as a foreigner). This book lifts the curtain on all that in a gritty, utterly fascinating tale of a whole other world! Chisholm is a wonderful observer of people, of poverty, and of the French." - Simon Kuper, author of The Barcelona Complex and Spies, Lies, and Exile Inspired by George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, A Waiter in Paris is a brilliant portrait of the underbelly of contemporary Paris through the eyes of a young waiter scraping out a living in the City of Light.

A waiter’s job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door… is hell.A waiter’s job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door … is hell.

Much the way that charity camp out for the homeless are not real approximations of what it’s like to be homeless because the participants are destined a warm bed the night after, Chisholm can’t really capture the struggle of being a waiter because unlike most of the other characters he’s not trapped in that life. What a talent, what a career, what a life, and what a treat to relive it all with this most down-to-earth of demigods. Death of the social life, ruinous financial warfare and a genuine drive to be something are all topics contained in writer Edward Chisholm, who recounts his experiences as a runner, waiter and restaurant hand in A Waiter in Paris. It is the dying, noble profession that so many have tried to document and bring to life through various pieces of media, failing to do so because a blemish is missing or a character is out of place. To take it from the source is the best-case scenario, a scattering of scenes that add detail to a scattershot life in a Parisian restaurant. The ins and outs of the filthy business put in the limelight with an effective gaze on what it really means to be a waiter. What a nightmare. The waiter inhabits a world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you're fighting your colleagues for tips. An evocative portrait of the underbelly of contemporary Paris as seen through the eyes of a young waiter scraping out a living in the City of Light.I loved this book for many reasons. Paris is my absolute favorite city in the world and I always enjoy books that take me there. I worked as a waiter in college, though under much different conditions, so I could relate just a little. This memoir was so riveting it read like fiction. The “cast of characters” was varied, fully fleshed out, and hugely interesting. There were comrades, criminals, friends, villains, and more. All that made for a great reading experience.⁣⁣ Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter is the perfect summer read. It takes you below the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world and right into its glorious underbelly. by Edward Chisholm for the win! This memoir may be the very best I’ve read this year. In it, Chisholm recounts his first year of working his way into the elite, yet lowly world of Paris waiters. This was made even more difficult by the fact that he’s English and spoke almost no French. ⁣⁣ I'm a real nut for anything - fact or fiction - about Paris. This book was completely different from anything on the City of Lights I've ever read: as the subtitle hints, "adventure in the dark heart of the City," and author Edward Chisholm definitely delivers.