I was looking forward to reading this but just could not get into it. A bit too slow for my tastes but I am sure others will enjoy.

REVIEW
The Waiter by Matias Faldbakken is an intriguing book that revolves around one idiosyncratic character, a waiter at the centuries-old restaurant called The Hills. At this restaurant, nothing ever changes, until it does. Our narrator, lives his life within the walls of the restaurant and his relationships with the patrons there. This is also a study in anxiety and neuroticism. As things start to change with the arrival of a new patron at the restaurant, things begin to unravel for the waiter.

PRAISE
“[A] droll, understated debut novel by a Norwegian artist and writer... Bringing to mind Mervyn Peake and Wes Anderson, with some of Nathanael West's deadpan grotesque, this is a beguiling, quirky entertainment.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

AUTHOR
Matias Faldbakken is a world-renowned contemporary artist and writer who shows with the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York and has been hailed as one of the freshest new voices to emerge in Norwegian literature during the past decade. The Waiter is his first novel in nine years and the very first he has written under his own name.

Many thanks to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really wanted to like this book. I was curious due to the description. However, while the writing was good and the waiters descriptions of the things that happened were well written, this book left me wanting something more in it. It didn't really feel as if anything happened. This was an okay read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review of it.

I suspect readers will either cautiously like this book or really dislike it. I admit, this was not at all what I expected. The food descriptions were tantalizing. While there were elements of humor and keen observations on human behavior, they were couched in snobbery and disdain. The narrator’s behavior became borderline psychotic, rather than “neurotic” and mainly questions raised were left unanswered. With that said, I still found the pages turning quickly.