—Daily Press (Hampton Roads, VA)
“Ginsberg, a fiercely stubborn and loving single mom…teaches us that while we tend to look for the big achievements from our kids, sometimes the smallest ones…are the sweetest.”
—Chatelaine
Praise for Waiting
“Ginsberg’s book successfully weaves examples from her twenty years as a waitress with explorations of the sociopolitical implications of the American class structure. Her triumph, in this book, is that she shows us how the beautiful and the base coexist. That tension is what makes the job, and the book, so compelling.”
—Portland Oregonian
“A lively and insightful look into restaurants…. Ginsberg is such a charming and talented writer.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Ginsberg writes positively but not Pollyannaishly and has told an attractive story about coping with a life that has been different than what she expected.”
—New York Times Book Review
“As this account shows, there’s a lot of life in the waiting game.”
—BusinessWeek
“This book is more than a saga about workplace woes. The better story is the one in which Ginsberg relives her personal struggle, waiting for her life to ‘happen.’”
—Associated Press
“Funny and ultimately satisfying.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“[Ginsberg’s] poignant, gently written stories of waitressing are metaphors for life.”
—Dallas Morning News
“[Ginsberg] tells the story with enough honesty and wry humor to connect with other people—especially women—who’ve made their living dealing with the infamous public.”
—Detroit Free Press
“A knowing memoir…. [Ginsberg] is great on dining-room debacles she’s endured.”
—Seattle Times
“Hilarious…. Colorful.”
—Hartford Courant
“A lively, often funny tale.”
—Newsday
“This book may inspire bored office workers to get out from behind their desks and step up to the tables…. The appealing style never wavers…. Those unfamiliar with restaurant jobs are in for an eye-opening treat.”
—Booklist
“Conveys the unpredictability and humanity of this humble but essential work…. Ginsberg’s more personal segments…portray an intelligent single mom, fiercely committed to her son, with worries about her potential as a writer and her future…concluding that…there is beauty and simplicity in the small acts of her work.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Ginsberg] presents…the sounds, the smells, the panic, the steamy drama of a busy kitchen.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Every time I go to a restaurant now, I think of what must be happening behind the scenes. Ginsberg’s stories really stay with you. A great read from start to finish.”
—Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander
“Debra Ginsberg’s great gift is the quiet way she’s able to point up the truths that reside in the innocent setting of the restaurant, in the harmless summer job that becomes the lifelong career, in the transitory exchanges that oftentimes have lasting effects, and in the character that develops while pursuing the philosophically complex occupation of waiting. This book reminds the reader that the waitress taking your order is also, maybe, noting much more with her pen. This is a strong debut.”
—Antonya Nelson, author of Nobody’s Girl
“The debut of a new and compelling writer is always a cause for celebration. Debra Ginsberg culls from a lifetime of waiting a humor, insight, and compassion that places her in the tradition of fine old tale-spinners. We have here, perhaps for the first time in literature, a true portrait of the demanding art of waiting on tables, from which Ginsberg has fashioned a wise, page-turning commentary on the human condition.”
—Kim Chernin, author of In My Mother’s House
“Ginsberg not only shares delicious stories…but also dishes out advice that will make you laugh.”
—USA Weekend
“Ginsberg got her education in restaurants, and she doles it out just right in this entertaining account.”
—People
“[A] wonderful book. It was worth waiting for.”
—New Orleans Times-Picayune
ALSO BY DEBRA GINSBERG
Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress
Copyright
RAISING BLAZE. Copyright © 2002 by Debra Ginsberg. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition March 2007 ISBN 9780061750700
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About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
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United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
{ CONTENTS }: PROLOGUE
{ Chapter One }: ENOUGH BREATH TO CRY
[ Chapter 2 ]: SCHOOLED
[ Chapter 3 ]: THE GOOD DOCTORS
[ Chapter 4 ]: WHAT COLOR IS TUESDAY?
[Chapter 5 ]: BUTTERFLIES AND FIRE DRILLS
[ Chapter 6 ]: SHRINKING
[ Chapter 7 ]: THE YELLOW WIRE
[ Chapter 8 ]: DANGEROUS BORDERS
[ Chapter 9 ]: TEA AND EMPATHY
[ Chapter 10 ]: LOST AT SEA
[ Chapter 11 ]: MAGIC AND APPROPRIATE LAUGHTER
[ Chapter 12 ]: APPROACHING THE TOWER
[ Chapter 13 ]: WATERLOO
[ Chapter 14 ]: HOME
EPILOGUE
AFTERWORD
{ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS }
About the Author
Praise for Raising Blaze
ALSO BY DEBRA GINSBERG
Copyright
About the Publisher
Raising Blaze Page 30