Excellent!

I'm always a little leary of books that are translated into English, however, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. the story was captivating from start to finish. Great performance as well. Very entertaining!

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Very interesting!

I bought this book because of the good reviews and because it was Canadian and I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed getting inside the head of the main character and the narrator did a great job. I learned a lot about gambling addiction which I had never really understood before. The author’s detail into the thought process behind the decisions made was very enlightening. Awesome storyline!

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting story

I’m not exactly sure why I enjoyed this story. I guess seeing how random chances and choices can change the trajectory of our lives...? It was well written and I felt like I was there. Some of the narrator’s pronunciations (gouache) had me grinding my teeth but otherwise it was well done.

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2 people found this helpful

Je ne m'attendais pas à aimer ce livre autant

je le ré-écouterais en français si il était disponible. Ce n'est pas du tout le style de livre que je lis normalement, mais je n'ai pas été en mesure de m'arrêter de lire jusqu'à ce que je l'aie fini.

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Awesome book

So glad I bought this. Highly recommend . Felt like was walking right alongside the main character down the streets of Montreal. Fantastic translation and narration

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8 people found this helpful

True to life and brings back memories

It starts off a graphic design student whose life is falling apart because of his gambling addiction takes a job as a dishwasher because he needs a paycheque. Once he takes the job this becomes two stories, One is his crumbling life and gambling addiction, the other is life in the restaurant.

In my youth, over the course of 7 years (14-21) I worked in restaurants. I started as a dishwasher, then for most of it, I was a cook/chef. Dishwasher is the easiest job to get. They will hire anybody. Restaurants are always short of dishwashers. If they have enough, they will hire spares because the turnover of dishwashers is high. They will just stop showing up, particularly after payday. It is the lowest meaningful job in a restaurant, you can do without bus people, the serving staff can do it if they have to, but it is also the hardest, and commands the least respect.

This book took me back. Leaving your dishwashing shift smelling like garbage, soap and the soup of the day. Having separate shoes because after one night in the dish pit your shoes smelled so bad you could not wear them anywhere else. Leaving your shift soaked to the underwear. And then the drama. People who have never worked in restaurants don't understand the drama. There is pressure during the dinner rush is incredible. Most people are young so emotional stability isn't high. Other than the cooks everybody thinks they are somebody else. Wait staff is musicians and actors even if they have been waiters for 10 years, dishwasher tend to be students or if they are older have a usually sadder and more dangerous tail. This book encompasses most of it, and realistically.

One ritual I had forgotten was that every night after shift you go out and get messed up. It is bonding but it is also picking sides.

Overall a good book. It has some heartbreaking parts but the restaurant stuff, even how most cooks become cooks, is captured perfectly.

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