It appears that the thirty-eight-year-old New York-based career waiter who has been posting anonymously to his blog entitled Waiter Rant for the past four years has decided to take his career in a new direction: writing. In his book of the same name, “The Waiter” comically and honesty chronicles the trials and tribulations of being a New York waiter. He generously allows readers to eavesdrop on all of his experiences — the good, the bad, and the ugly - and the end result is a quick and enjoyable read that just may encourage you to tip your servers a full 20 percent even if your meal and/or your service did not meet your expectations (which were probably overly ambitious anyway).

Waiter Rant provides a rare glimpse into restaurant industry through the eyes of the waiter, as he explains the politics of the waitstaff and cooks, the relationship between the employees and their regular customers, not-so-regular customers, small parties, large parties, drunk patrons, aggressive patrons, generous tippers, and cheap tippers. The waiter covers all grounds from the evenings when the employees and customers are happy, the tables are seated at just the right intervals, the air conditioning is working, and there are no medical emergencies or live animals to interfere with the prompt delivery of the desired entrees.

The book is honest and refreshing and it paints a portrait of a waiter as a thankless job which many of us take for granted. Waiter Rant is an amusing and engaging book that has arrived just in time to be appropriately classified as one of this summer’s “must-reads.”