Such a journey into the life of a waitress

books:

	• Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress Debra Ginsberg Harper Paperbacks, 2001 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Juicy and fun!

This is a wonderful, fast-paced read that will take you into the life of Debra Ginsberg, a woman who worked as a waitress for twenty years.

If you've ever worked with the public in any capacity, this book is for you! And, if you patronize restaurants, you'd best read this book so you can see yourself as a customer through the eyes of those invisible people who serve you.

Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg is a hilarious eye-opener. You'll never see waiters in the same way again.

Underappreciated

Oddly enough, I recieved a copy of this book, as a gift, three years ago. After rushing my education, recieving a Master's degree at 21, I found myself still employed as a server. Needless to say, I related to the story, which some may argue, is why I rated it a five. Most people take for granted, how many educated servers there are and how annoyed we get when you treat us like a "dumb server." If I have any hopes for this book, it's that some non-service industry types read it and get a better understanding of "the other side."
I found this book to be a quick and easy read, but very enjoyable. She reiterates that common curtiousy goes a long way, whether you are a server or being served. Definately a must read for anyone that has waited tables and a should read for anyone that has or will ever eat out.

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Lacks pizazz

About: Ginsberg describes her long career as a waitress in restaurants ranging from her family's luncheonette to a country club. Plenty of vignettes about ill-behaved restaurant staff and customers here.

Pros: The tales and interpersonal relationships she describes on the job can be amusing

Cons: I read this book after reading Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter and found that Ginsberg's work paled in comparison. The chapter on waitressing in the media seemed like a tacked on writing class assignment, and her style lacked any "oomph" to hold my interest.

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Such a journey into the life of a waitress

I love this book and am currently enjoying it again after first reading it several years ago. Not only does Waiting deliver a strong sense of what it is like to be a waitress, it's also a strong story about what it is like to be Debra Ginsberg and to some degree what it was like to be in Portland, Oregon in the 70's and 80's.

Highly recommended.

Work of Genius: an updated Moby Dick

Debra Ginsburg's book is nothing less than an updated version of Melville's Moby Dick: an ode to the humanity of the ordinary working man and woman. The restaurant staffs (many throughout her life-long career waiting) are Ginsburg's shipmates. The great whale was for Melville a mirror by which we can look into the souls of ordinary working people, and this is what the working men and woman of her restaurants are for Ginsburg's great work of Genius. Ginsburg plays on the word "waiting" in a way that would have made Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot) proud (although Ginsburg is never heavy-handed with the pun), as True Confessions of a Waitress is also about people who are waiting for salvation from the miserable existence where they are forced to eke out a humble living while their dreams lie just out of reach. I read the book as part of a writers' seminar and fell in love with the book and with its author.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

A veteran waitress dishes up a spicy and robust account of life as it really exists behind kitchen doors.

Part memoir, part social commentary, part guide to how to behave when dining out, Debra Ginsberg's book takes readers on her twentyyear journey as a waitress at a soap-operatic Italian restaurant, an exclusive five-star dining club, the dingiest of diners, and more. While chronicling her evolution as a writer, Ginsberg takes a behind-the-scenes look at restaurant life-revealing that yes, when pushed, a server will spit in food, and, no, that's not really decaf you're getting-and how most people in this business are in a constant state of waiting to do something else.

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