The Last Supper Club, Matthew Batt
The Last Supper Club, Matthew Batt
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Last Supper Club
A Waiter's Requiem

Author: Matthew Batt

Narrator: Robert Fass

Unabridged: 10 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/30/2024


Synopsis

During a year on sabbatical from his university position, Matthew Batt realized he needed money—fast—and it just so happened that one of the biggest breweries in the Midwest was launching a restaurant and looking to hire. So it was that the forty-something tenured professor found himself waiting tables at a high-end restaurant situated in a Minneapolis brewery. And loving it.

Telling the story of Batt's early work in restaurants, The Last Supper Club then details his experiences at the fine dining restaurant, a job that continued well past his sabbatical.

The Last Supper Club reveals the ups and downs of a waiter's workday and offers an insightful perspective on what makes a job good, bad, or great. For Batt, this job turns out to be considerably more fun, and possibly more rewarding, than his academic career, and his insider's view of waiting tables extols the significance of our food and the places where we gather to enjoy it—or serve it.

Told with sharp humor, humility, and a keen sense of what matters, The Last Supper Club is an ode to life in a high-pressure restaurant, the relationships that get you to the night's close, and finding yourself through the chaos of it all.

About Matthew Batt

Matthew Batt is author of the memoir Sugarhouse. His fiction and nonfiction have been featured in the New York Times, Outside Magazine, the Huffington Post, Tin House, and elsewhere. The recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the McKnight Foundation, and the Aspen Writers' Institute, he teaches creative writing and English at the University of St. Thomas and lives in St. Paul with his family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on September 08, 2024

3.5 Stars I enjoyed this memoir about the food and restaurant industry. This felt like a love letter to those who have waited tables. The main character didn't feel completely relatable which held me back from completely loving it. The setup was just hard to understand why the professor took a sabbat......more

Goodreads review by Wendi on August 06, 2023

I thought this book was going to be another in a long line of snarky, Bourdain influenced, memoirs about a server. Never judge a book by Bourdain. This was so refreshing. It was a love story about a server and a restaurant. Kind of. There wasn’t the usual bashing of customers who didn’t “get” fine d......more

Goodreads review by Keri on September 30, 2023

This book is exciting at times, but at other times the author's tales lead to feelings of second-hand embarrassment which makes it difficult to continue. The timeline is also over the place, and the author often switches between years and different restaurant positions, which leads to a deep sense o......more

Goodreads review by Emily on November 18, 2023

3.5 I should have loved this book, but it just never grabbed me.......more

Goodreads review by Poppy on July 22, 2023

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.) ********************************************************* A witty and humble tribute to the sometimes profane, sometimes profound world of waiting tables. During a year on sabbatical from his university position, Matthew Batt realize......more