Dear Catastrophe Waitress: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: camp service, parent council, Brendan Halpin, Stacey Phillips, Creation Station (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vindictive songs change the course of two people's lives in Halpin's third novel (after Long Way Back), a funny and unlikely story about mending broken hearts. Philippa Strange, a fresh-out-of-high-school punk rock girl, divides her time between an alcoholic mother in Cincinnati and a rocker boyfriend in London and becomes unfortunately notorious after her boyfriend immortalizes her cheating ways—and her name—in a popular song. Meanwhile, shortly after Mark Norris finishes college in Philadelphia, he finds himself the victim of "premature ejaculation libel" when his ex-girlfriend cracks the Top 40 with her hit song, "Two Minute Man." Mark stumbles his way though toxic relationships as a pregnant Philippa, back in the States for good, fakes her death and assumes a new identity to escape from a violent boyfriend. Oddly, Mark's bumbling early adulthood is more engaging to read about than Philippa's flight, and though it's a given that the two will end up together, Halpin's assured prose and knack for mischievously comic turns ensure a smooth ride into happily ever after. (Mar. 13)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In alternating chapters, Halpin (Long Way Back, 2006) details dual stories covering 20 years in the lives of punk-rock-loving Philippa and sensitive Mark. When Philippa's London musician boyfriend catches her cheating, he immortalizes the incident in a wildly popular song that sends her scurrying back to Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Mark meets brooding bisexual Raquel, who takes off for L.A. after college and humiliates him with her chart-topping "Two-Minute Man." Things continue to spiral downward for both as Philippa becomes pregnant by an abusive lover and completely cuts off contact with her family and friends, changing her identity and moving to Boston, while Mark, who has become an elementary-school teacher, is dumped by his corporate lawyer fiancee. Halpin's story sometimes feels too superficial because of the time compression. But when he is at his best--his tenderhearted depictions of Mark's loneliness and inept romantic relationships and of the fraught but loving bond between Philippa and her strong-willed daughter--he proves himself to be an insightful observer of contemporary relationships. A funny and touching, if somewhat predictable, tribute to the brokenhearted. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Villard (March 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812977025
• ISBN-13: 978-0812977028
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,198,320 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Engaging, May 28, 2008

By	Ava DeMarco (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

I am not usually drawn to male authors, but the idea seemed interesting when reading the back cover. I loved this book. I loved Mark. he's the kind of guy that a girl would love to end up with and i loved Stacey. Phillipa was a complete mess, but Stacey was beautiful. I loved how her relationship with her daughter was not perfect, how she doubted herself, how he doubted himself, never seeing the greatness that they each possessed. It was a little predictable in some ways, but it's what readers want. It's what makes a happy ending. I highly recommend this book. If you like Nick Hornby, you'd like this, except i actually identify with this book more b/c the author seemed more intuned with a woman's mind.

5.0 out of 5 stars You oughtta know about this book, May 5, 2007

By	Wolfboy "Geek" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

What would happen if the girl who inspired the UK punk rant "Jilted John" crossed paths with the guy who Alanis Morissette's "You Oughtta Know" was directed at? That seems to be the premise at the core of Brendan Halpin's delightful novel. There aren't a lot of unpredictable surprises to be found in the trajectory which brings Halpin's characters to their inevitable meeting, but that doesn't matter. The author has such an eye for detail and skill at characterization that in a very few pages Phillipa and Mark have become people the reader cares desperately about - such fully formed human beings that it's hard to believe they are only figments of one talented writer's imagination. Even the minor characters who come and go along the way (some are only around for two or three pages, such as Phillipa's would-be stepmother and her friend Kim) are so deftly sketched that the reader comes to care about them and is saddened when they drop out of the narrative. So if the reader has a good idea how the book will end as soon as they start reading it, it's of little consequence - the journey getting there is so well written, the details so well-observed and the protagonists have become such beloved friends that there is only one ending it could or should have.

I debated whether to give this book a four or five star review - on the one hand, I think five star reviews should be reserved for truly classic books like "Slaughterhouse Five" or "In Cold Blood," and not lavished on what is in all honesty a romance novel in hip punk rock clothes. But on the other hand this is the only book I have ever read cover to cover twice in the same week that I bought it. It's not earth shatteringly important, it's moderately predictable, but in terms of sheer enjoyability I loved it more than any book I've read in years. So five stars.

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing and touching pop-infused love story, April 23, 2007

By	John Hunt (Albany, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Belle and Sebastian song of the same name seems to have provided the basic structure of this story of the convergence and romance of two damaged but likeable protagonists. The characters' extensive backstories are to some extent schematic (certain patterns from the past reassert themselves rather too obviously in the present), but the novel is enjoyable and absorbing, pop-literate without being obnoxious, and funny enough, with a voice that is always decent and humane.