have you ever hate-loved a book?

or love-hated it? I think maybe love-hated is more appropriate in this situation, because i loved this book much more than I hated it, seeing that I finished it in three days and then wouldn't shut up to my friends about it every time we walked into a cute place in portland last weekend. ("guys, they serve wine and oysters here. have you read sweetbitter? doesn't that barstool REMIND YOU OF SWEETBITTER?!?!?")

weirdly, it's a book where none of the characters mattered that much to me, like i already can't remember any of their names and sort of hated them all, but YET i can't stop thinking about Danler's descriptions of food and wine and working in restaurants and new york city. wait it's like NEW YORK CITY ITSELF IS THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE BOOK! my god, I cracked the code! 

but yeah, if you are looking for something juicy and vaguely annoying to read due to the dramatic descriptions of how nyc air feels but also something that will make you crave BONE DRY white wine and a weird frenemy in her late 30s that spouts nonsense and wears kimonos outside work, plus also images of douchey smoochey bartender-men with weird key tattoos then THIS is the book for you!

plus, the cover is cute. 

for real, if you've ever worked in a restaurant you will tear through this book. the place i worked for a year after college was no where close to the level of fancy that Union Square Cafe was (shocking, I know) but there was still so much that was familiar and resonant in Danler's descriptions of waitressing life. mostly the sight of your work shoes making you gag and want to kill yourself + being terrified of the chef at all times, plus that one time your coworker was so hungover during the brunch shift that you had to prop his limp body up against the wall by the bread closet. (pretty sure Union square cafe didn't have a "bread closet" but we sure did!)

also how cool is THIS OUTFIT?!? fine, I loved the book, Stephanie. You win.