---
product_id: 53917537
title: "The Waitress Was New"
price: "B/.61"
currency: PAB
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.pa/products/53917537-the-waitress-was-new
store_origin: PA
region: Panama
---

# The Waitress Was New

**Price:** B/.61
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- **What is this?** The Waitress Was New
- **How much does it cost?** B/.61 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.pa](https://www.desertcart.com.pa/products/53917537-the-waitress-was-new)

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## Description

The Waitress Was New [Fabre, Dominique, Stump, Jordan] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Waitress Was New

Review: Thoughtful - A veteran bartender of Le Cercle, Pierre, lives a simple life. He is the unassuming listener of customer stories and covers up for the boss of the cafe when he disappears for a day or two with his latest fling, and helps out at the cafe until he returns. On the day a new waitress is hired at the cafe, the boss disappears in the afternoon without word to his wife or Pierre. Bu this time he doesn't come back the day after, or in a week. In the meantime, Pierre has to suddenly not only manage the cafe, the new waitress and the cook, but he is also put in the position of suddenly being the boss's wife's confidant and having to comfort her. Oh and he's worried enough to try looking for his boss as well. Before long, his life is thrown into upheaval at an unexpected announcement and he takes stock of his life on a day he had not seen coming. This poignant study of Pierre and his solitude highlights a person who is overlooked, but who is also at times taken advantage of.
Review: A little picture of the big picture - I love the title of this book, but it's not about the waitress. The narrator is Pierre, a fifty-six-year-old barman at Le Cercle, a busy café in the suburbs of Paris. Pierre is a fixture at Le Cercle, where's he's worked steadily for the last eight years. But there are no fixtures in life. One day the boss disappears, and his wife after him. What now? The translator of this book must be good. You can almost hear the sad lilt of French in the English prose. That's important, because style is the real substance of this little novel. Pierre has had his troubles in life - love and loss, sickness and drunkenness - but he's on the other side of "all that love business" when we meet him, alone and "seeing nothing more to come." In his own words, Fabre celebrates "places or people who have somehow been overlooked." His subject is the everyday. Don't look for excitement here, just a certain poignant sense of life slipping by. In a larger sense, of course, Pierre's situation represents the human condition. I'd like to try another novel by Fabre, but this seems to be the only one in English so far. Since I'm frivolous enough to care about how a book feels in the hand, I'll just mention that this book is elegantly designed and nicely produced, as refined as the writing within.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,930,434 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,479 in Comedic Dramas & Plays (Books) #8,713 in Humorous Fiction #9,426 in Psychological Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars (22) |
| Dimensions  | 5.56 x 0.44 x 6.48 inches |
| Edition  | F Second Printing |
| ISBN-10  | 0977857697 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0977857692 |
| Item Weight  | 5.2 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 117 pages |
| Publication date  | January 21, 2008 |
| Publisher  | Archipelago |

## Images

![The Waitress Was New - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/812SIKheUwL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thoughtful
*by C***M on February 13, 2012*

A veteran bartender of Le Cercle, Pierre, lives a simple life. He is the unassuming listener of customer stories and covers up for the boss of the cafe when he disappears for a day or two with his latest fling, and helps out at the cafe until he returns. On the day a new waitress is hired at the cafe, the boss disappears in the afternoon without word to his wife or Pierre. Bu this time he doesn't come back the day after, or in a week. In the meantime, Pierre has to suddenly not only manage the cafe, the new waitress and the cook, but he is also put in the position of suddenly being the boss's wife's confidant and having to comfort her. Oh and he's worried enough to try looking for his boss as well. Before long, his life is thrown into upheaval at an unexpected announcement and he takes stock of his life on a day he had not seen coming. This poignant study of Pierre and his solitude highlights a person who is overlooked, but who is also at times taken advantage of.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A little picture of the big picture
*by P***O on August 14, 2009*

I love the title of this book, but it's not about the waitress. The narrator is Pierre, a fifty-six-year-old barman at Le Cercle, a busy café in the suburbs of Paris. Pierre is a fixture at Le Cercle, where's he's worked steadily for the last eight years. But there are no fixtures in life. One day the boss disappears, and his wife after him. What now? The translator of this book must be good. You can almost hear the sad lilt of French in the English prose. That's important, because style is the real substance of this little novel. Pierre has had his troubles in life - love and loss, sickness and drunkenness - but he's on the other side of "all that love business" when we meet him, alone and "seeing nothing more to come." In his own words, Fabre celebrates "places or people who have somehow been overlooked." His subject is the everyday. Don't look for excitement here, just a certain poignant sense of life slipping by. In a larger sense, of course, Pierre's situation represents the human condition. I'd like to try another novel by Fabre, but this seems to be the only one in English so far. Since I'm frivolous enough to care about how a book feels in the hand, I'll just mention that this book is elegantly designed and nicely produced, as refined as the writing within.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Book to Keep
*by E***Y on June 23, 2010*

Translated from the French by Jordan Stump, THE WAITRESS WAS NEW is a novella set on the outskirts of modern-day Paris in a small cafe owned by a husband and wife. When the husband disappears, the wife and tiny staff try to forge on: Amedee the Senegalese cook, Madeleine the new waitress, and the reflective narrator Pierre, a bartender who's nearing retirement after a complicated life. I love work-based stories and this one is melancholy and full, very much like Stewart O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster . The little book itself is also physically lovely -- it's one of a few I've borrowed from the library and then purchased a copy to keep. And it's Fabre's only story available in English; I hope more will be translated.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Waitress Was New
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*Product available on Desertcart Panama*
*Store origin: PA*
*Last updated: 2026-02-21*