Last Night at the Lobster (2007)

It's a few days before Christmas, and a big winter snowstorm is brewing as Manny De-Leon opens, for the last time, the Red Lobster he manages near a run-down New England mall. Corporate headquarters is pulling the plug. But first, ever-conscientious Manny must handle the mini-dramas of his skeleton crew — including ex-girlfriend Jacquie, who isn't one of the five he's bringing to his new gig at a nearby Olive Garden. From such skimpy material, Stewart O'Nan crafts a perfectly observed slice of working-class life with all the sheen of mopped linoleum in Last Night at the Lobster. B+