A waiter in Paris Adventures in the dark heart of the city

After following his girlfriend from London to Paris, Chisholm found his bank account dwindling and his romance guttering out. Returning home seemed a step backward to him, so he sought a job as a waiter. With no experience, little command of French, and lacking just about any documentation to establish himself, Chisholm became a runner, the lowest rung of waitstaff, and found out that he had to put in grueling hours. Too late, he discovered why he was forbidden from going into the main kitchen. Losing his apartment, he ended up sleeping in a fancy hotel's restroom until he found a room in a hotel occupied by sex workers and their clients. His fellow waiters, virtually all immigrants, treat him shabbily at first, but he eventually makes friends, one of whom turns out to be a much-needed benefactor. Chisholm learns the ways of restaurant society and its class-driven structure that harshly judges both guests and staff. In keen-eyed, unsentimental writing, few human foibles and frailties go unremarked upon in Chisholm's often cheerless Parisian world.

A Dickensian tale of a young man's trial by fire in a French bistro gives rise to biting commentary on Parisian culture in Chisholm's intoxicating debut. Underemployed in the wake of the financial crisis, Chisholm moved from London to Paris in 2011 and faked his way into a job as a runner at an upscale restaurant where, he writes, immigrants were relegated to lowly kitchen work while European waiters served "the rich and white on top." As he observes, "Slice a Parisian bistro in half and you a startlingly accurate cross-section of contemporary French society." Though disparagingly nicknamed L'Anglais, Chisholm was grudgingly educated by his peers and, after six months of backbreaking 14-hour days, he was promoted to waiter. But as he reveals, the restaurant's illusion of elegance--peddled to wealthy customers by "Caucasian waiter" like him--quickly went up in smoke as respected coworkers were fired, leaving Chisholm to while away his days dreaming of an "all-out revolution... unif the waiters of the world against their corrupt employers." Throughout, Chisholm renders the City of Light in vivid scenes of squalor and splendor, its romance and wretchedness mirroring that of the "great piece of theater" he starred in before eventually leaving the restaurant himself. Bittersweet and enchanting, this serves as a potent look at the gritty underbelly of a glittering world. (Sept.)

Unable to find work after graduating from a London university, Chisholm followed his girlfriend to Paris looking for any type of work that he could find. After months with no success, and his relationship with his girlfriend souring, He found himself alone in Paris with an apartment that he could not afford. A frantic search for work followed, with Chisholm determined to find a job as a waiter. Successfully landing a job at a respectable restaurant, he is hazed by the other waiters until he finally catches on to the cutthroat culture that exists among them. His descriptions of the behind-the-scenes antics at the restaurant are highly entertaining. He brings the restaurant world to life as he relates the stress, pressure, and anxiety felt by all the workers. The long hours, the competition among the waiters, the petty grudges, and the poor treatment by supervisors are all exposed. Most poignant are his coworkers' stories: they share their hopes and dreams with him. With this book, Chisholm has achieved his own dream to become a writer. VERDICT An absorbing and moving inside look at a Parisian restaurant.--Rebecca Mugridge

A former waiter in Paris shares unsettling memories from behind the scenes. In 2011, following the financial crisis and "a string of petty jobs," Chisholm moved from London to Paris in search of a satisfying career. Although it wasn't his original plan, he took a restaurant job while fantasizing about becoming a writer. Despite having little knowledge of the French language or experience as a server, he managed to fake his way into a position as a runner in an upscale restaurant, where he was labeled L'Anglais. In trial-by-fire fashion, Chisholm faced extremely hierarchical and competitive working conditions; after six brutal months, he became an official waiter. In this revealing social commentary, Chisholm shares the appalling working conditions that he and his co-workers faced behind the facade of fine French dining. "As a waiter," he writes, "you quickly get used to the fact that people believe they can talk to you like a lower species." Each of his colleagues diligently played their roles in this "vast culinary amphitheatre" even as they endured condescending managers and rude customers. Working long, grueling shifts, Chisholm reveals that the staff often scraped by on stolen cigarette breaks and stale coffee and rolls. On luckier occasions, they secretly consumed half-touched plates and unfinished glasses of wine left by patrons. The author delves into the difficulties and uncertainties that he and his co-workers faced getting paid or taking time off, and he shares his experiences with squalid living conditions and even homelessness. Although the book is set in Paris, Chisholm demonstrates how his stories of struggle have universal appeal. After months of dealing with his uncaring, corrupt employers, Chisholm found himself dreaming of an uprising against them. Following an injury on the job, his path became clear: "I felt almost duty bound to write this book. To give a voice to an invisible workforce." In that, he succeeds admirably. An enlightening view of the underworld of fine French dining. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.