Out to Lunch [Paperback]

Walter Crocker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2000

This book is primariy about people who live on the "fringe" of society. Minimum wage workers, bikers, new agers, etc. Books like Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Roggins, The World According to Garp by Jon Irving, Fear and Loathing by Thompson and even Naked Lunch by Burroughs are influences. The characters bounce around like colorful rubber balls off the narrator-paddle. He is the constant, the voice of reason, but he is influenced at times also. At times, funny, but sometimes the string breaks and tragedy ensues.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Walt Crocker grew up in the alleys and backstreets of a large Mid-Western city with some very unusual neighbors. He escaped to the country when he was 21. His hobbies include Magic, Celtic Mythology, and collecting clowns.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (October 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595146538
• ISBN-13: 978-0595146536
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,150,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book IS out to lunch., December 4, 2000

By 

Stanley Thompson (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out to Lunch (Paperback)

The blurb on this book states "One man's savage journey throughthe twisted world of minmum wage employment in search of the AmericanDream." Although some of the book explores the lives of some veryoffbeat characters that work at a fast food restaurant, it's aboutmore than that. Throughout this short book, the narrator shows howthese "fringe" people affect his own life...each time one ofthe characters is introduced, the narrator, who describes himself as asane and rational person, is drawn a little bit more towards theedge. He becomes friends with Frankenhead, a semi-literate restaurantworker with an overly large head and rotten teeth. Frank has apenchant for porno and horror movies and falls in love with a verylarge woman who claims to get pregnant every two weeks and extortsabortion money from Frank, with promise that one day they will getmarried and have children. Co-incidentally Frank gets paid every twoweeks and hands over his check. A disgruntled worker commits suicideand another character winds up dead under the narrator's car. Beingaround all this sort of thing defintely has an impact as his own lifestarts to slide. The author takes a break about halfway through thebook and describes some do's and don'ts about eating out at a fastfood place...like never show up 5 minutes before closing unless youwant a highly pissed off teenager fixing something you are going toput in your body. At the end of the book the story is told about thenarrator's brother, a wacked out Vietnam vet who was the most"Out to Lunch" of them all. Although the book has sometechnical faults...sometimes the author gets carried away with hisdescriptions of the characters and it could have been proof read alittle better, the book is an easy read and will open an eye or twofor those not easily offended by a glimpse of life on the other sde fthe tracks, or in this case, the other side ofthe counter. END

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll never look at fast food the same again...., June 10, 2001

By 

Beverly J. Rowe "MyShelf.com" (Kenai, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out to Lunch (Paperback)

Welcome to a tongue-in-cheek tour through the world of fast food. The story starts with the author's entry-level job at Chucki's Chicken, complete with his hilarious training session in Texas, and follows him to management level through transfers and job changes. Nearly all of the marvelous characters remind you of somenone you know, from his neighbor "Crazy Bill" to "Frankenhead," the not-too-bright character who continually pays for his girlfriend's bi-weekly "abortion." Gordo's guide to food service employees makes you nod your head and chuckle as you recognize people you have worked with. The chapter on the "ten things you should know before going into almost any fast food establishment" may tell us more than we want to know about these places. (The employees do WHAT in the pickles?) The book is not without flaws that better proofreading and editing couldn't take care of. It is a short and very entertaining read that is by turns funny and sad.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREASE SLAVES UNITE, March 27, 2001

By 

Eric Holland (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out to Lunch (Paperback)

BEHIND THIS BOOK.... Eric Schlosser documents the abuse and injustice in the fast food and beef processing industry in his best selling book "Fast Food Nation." Read it.He does a good job of investigating it. If you want to "live it" instead of talking about it, read "Out To Lunch." Yeah it's rough, it's dark, it's jaded, but who wouldn't be after 25+ years in the "grease fire" so to speak. Smiling faces behind the counters of the multi-billion corporations beware, cause this book tells it like it is. Mothers and Fathers protect your sons and daughters from Big Mac as they just might grow up to be Assistant Managers!