Again, I picked up a book based on hearing the author talk about it on Fresh Air. Though there is some beautiful writing in Stephanie Danler’s debut novel and the topic is intriguing, I found myself never quite connecting with Tess, the young woman who narrates this coming-of-age story. In hindsight, this might be what Danler was after because Tess kind of drifts through much of her life until she washes ashore, all pretty and naïve, at a popular New York City restaurant and gets a job as a “backwaiter.”
In this novel, there are several stories overlapping. There is Tess’s move from Middle-America (I think it’s telling that after reading the book, I can’t remember where she’s from) to the hustling, dirty, but fascinating streets of 2006 New York. There is the weird and highbrow world of the restaurant business that Tess experiences from the view of the kitchen—a view that involves lots of rats, lots of blow, and lots of stress. Finally, there is a love triangle of sorts. Tess connects with Simone, a senior server at the restaurant, whose knowledge of food and wine and art is something that Tess wants to absorb. However, Tess is also attracted to Jake, one of the bartenders. The fact that Simone has an odd and longstanding relationship to Jake means that Tess seems to be the only one who doesn’t realize things aren’t going to end well.
Upon reflection, I think Danler captures the weirdness of post-college life for someone in their twenties well and maybe that’s my problem. Reading this novel made me feel like I was about a thousand years old. I couldn’t relate to what was so fascinating about working in the restaurant or why Tess couldn’t see the train wreck up ahead that was getting involved with Jake and Simone. But maybe that’s the point. Regardless, I appreciate what Stephanie Danler was trying to do here but I have to say that I found her discussion with Dave Davies on Fresh Air more interesting than this fictionalized version.