The Dishwasher

(Paperback)

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Description

The Dishwasher is Stephane Larues debut novel. Published in French in 2016 by Le Quartanier, it won the 2017 Quebec Booksellers Prize, the 2017 Senghor Prize, was shortlisted for the 2017 Governor-Generals Award for French-language fiction and sold over 30,000 copies in Quebec. A hyperrealist bildungsroman for the the 21st century, this first-person narrative will resonate with thirty-something readers who grew up on the same musicin addition to the protagonists immersion in heavy metal, memories of his 90s adolescence are punctuated by observations about the decades popular music scene, making room for a range of musical references, from Third Eye Blind and Marcy Playground to Tupac and Nirvana. Larues style is vivid and gripping. His richly detailed portrayal of life in the dishpit will appeal to anyone whos worked in a kitchen and his portrayal of gambling addiction is penetratingly accurate and sensitively rendered. Anthony Bourdain-meets-Dostoyevsky with metalhead appeal. To be adapted for screen by Quebec filmmaker.

Reviews

Praise for The Dishwasher "Vivid and moving." The New York Times Book Review "Carries you away like a speeding taxi in the harsh, dazzling Montreal night." Catherine Leroux, Giller-shortlisted author of The Party Wall and Madame Victoria "Utterly absorbing...[an] engrossing look at addiction, city life, music, and work." Book Riot "[The Dishwasher] conjures a vivid and unnerving portrait of a work-world that throbs with stress." CBC The Sunday Edition "A compelling coming-of-age novel told at the speed of thrash metal: an unlikely and masterful combination of inventive literary autofiction and an irresistible page-turner...The Dishwasher is a gripping tale of unlikely friendships, a romp through the underworld of late-night Montreal, and a blazing thrash metal ode to the heart of every restaurant, the humble dish pit." Montreal Review of Books "A Qubcois bestseller thankfully arrives for English readers. One can see how this bleak bildungsroman attracted so much attention in Canada...[The Dishwasher] reads like a cross between the dearly departed Anthony Bourdain and Stephanie Danlers Sweetbitter, combining the complicated life of a kitchen wretch with a highly literate voice...hypnotizing." Kirkus Reviews "Quickly adopted by the kitchen-culture crowd before crossing over to mainstream bestseller lists...Theres no reason to think English Canada wont soon follow suit with Pablo Strausss compulsively readable translation...Larues eye is so keen, his grip on his milieu so sure." Montreal Gazette "In The Dishwasher, Stphane Larue invests in plot and character. Chapters are paced like restaurant work: there are quiet lulls for you to catch your breath and torrid rushes where nothing stops moving, the type of chaos where the only way to stay on your feet is to wildly tumble forward...Pablo Strauss translation creates a narrator and a world of energy and exhaustion....masterful." Asymptote "Captivating...consistently propulsive and acutely perceptive." Hamilton Review of Books "Larue recounts his story in an energetic style that will keep the reader emotionally vested in the life of The Dishwasher." CBC Montreal "An immersive look at the restaurant world make[s] for a gripping read in The Dishwasher...[a] gripping take on a damaged young man finding his place in a particular subculture, and the precise details make for a work that sits comfortably beside works by Anthony Bourdain and George Orwell." Words Without Borders "Highly satisfying and original...utterly propulsive, its effects mesmerizing."Literary Review of Canada "A gruff-yet-affable working class lament, seasoned with hangdog determination and bleary verisimilitude. From the bar booths to the slop sinks to the shooting galleries of a painstakingly rendered Montreal, Larue proves himself a more than adept raconteur of blackout debauchery and wage labor drudgery. Think Nelson Algren by way of Bud Smith, such is the hardscrabble exactitude on offer in this wincing grin of a novel. An industrious and absorbing slab of cutthroat cuisine, Qubcois death metal, and gamblers dilemmas." Justin Walls, Powell's Books (Portland, OR) "I've never been to Montreal but I have worked in restaurants and Stphane Larue's The Dishwasher made me feel as if I do know that world in great, mad, detail. More importantly, it goes so beyond being a food industry novel or a novel about metal or gambling, it is a book that is both tender and tough. I appreciate this book for all that it must've taken to create--it is a wondrous thing." Hans Weyandt, Milkweed Books (Minneapolis, MN) "The Dishwasher is a tragi-comic adventure through the dark underbelly of a high end Montreal restaurant kitchen that follows a down on his luck 30-something brilliantly talented artist with fabulous taste in music and a little gambling addiction. As much a philosophical dive into life, love, trust, obsession, and heavy metal as just a damn good story, The Dishwasher made me laugh, cringe,shake my head and drool over amazing food. I absolutely just couldn't put this quirky cool debut novel by Canadian author Larue that is just perfect for fans of David Sedaris or Anthony Bourdain." Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop (Southern Pines, NC) "Prepare to get your soul scrubbed down and wrung out. This novel from Quebec captures a world that will be familiar to folks in the service and music industry. Vividly painted scenes from the trenches of a barely-functional kitchen during a rush followed by dizzying late-night get togethers make up this portrait of the loneliness of late-capitalism and the strength we can find from art and our allies. Gritty, loud, and compassionate." Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop (Athens, GA) "A simple story of a want-to-be-artist that has to come to terms with the reality of his vices and get out of his own way. The pacing and phrasing of this novel is in beautiful contrast to the raw story told. The sense of place is unforgettable. From the behind the scenes look of working in a restaurant to the weight of addiction, I devoured every page as I found myself hopeful for the underdog in this brilliant debut." Shannon Alden, Literati Bookshop (Ann Arbor, MI) The only thing I did last weekend was read The Dishwasher. Caitlin Luce Baker, Island Books (Seattle, WA) "A perfectly crafted story...the narrators conquest of his gambling addiction ebbs and flows, marked by success and failure, hope and defeat...The Dishwasher is a thoughtful examination of a young man at the end of his optionsa humanizing, emotive, and entertaining tale of personal growth." Foreword Reviews "The turbulent, immersive narration is an experience on its own. The result is often breathtaking: five hundred feverish pages that take us to a place somewhere between Dostoyevsky's The Gambler and Anthony Bourdain's KItchen Confidential.... Poignant and magnificent." Le Devoir (Montreal) "Feverish writing, Montreal streets and characters magnificently described, mind-bending descriptions of what happens behind the scenes at restaurants--you'll never see them in the same way once you've finished the book--a story that is both a dark tale and an existential suspense story, it all combines to make the book unputdownable.... It may be over 500 pages long, but so moving is the story that once you've started it, you feel the irresistible desire to devour it in a single sitting." Le Soleil (Quebec City)

Author Bio

StphaneLaruewas born in Longueuil in 1983. He received a master's in comparative literature at L'Universit de Montral and has worked in the restaurant industry for the past fifteen years. He lives in Montral.The Dishwasheris his first book.