A Waiter in Paris Audiobook By Edward Chisholm cover art

A Waiter in Paris

Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Waiter in Paris

By: Edward Chisholm
Narrated by: Tristam Summers
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

An evocative portrait of the underbelly of contemporary Paris as seen through the eyes of a young waiter scraping out a living in the City of Light.

A waiter's job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door . . . is hell.

Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter takes you beneath the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world—and right into its glorious underbelly.

He inhabits a world of inhuman hours, snatched sleep, and dive bars; scraping by on coffee, bread, and cigarettes, often under sadistic managers, with a wage so low you're fighting your colleagues for tips. Your colleagues—including thieves, narcissists, ex-soldiers, immigrants, wannabe actors, and drug dealers—are the closest thing to family that you've got.

It's physically demanding, frequently humiliating, and incredibly competitive. But it doesn't matter because you're in Paris, the center of the universe, and there's nowhere else you'd rather be in the world.

©2022 Edward Chisholm (P)2023 Tantor
Culinary Gastronomy City France
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about A Waiter in Paris

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    41
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    41
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Down and out in Paris II

Orwell is my lit. Hero. His immersive, investigative, journalistic writing is what I see in Chisholm’s Paris. I thoroughly enjoy chisholm’s narrative style, its economy, precision and layedness. Through the eye of self inspiring Parian waiter, the writer generously and physically present the lives in Paris, or life in general. It is heavy, unrelenting, cyclical and we like/ enjoy it. In that sense, are we not all Parisian waiters?

I have to say this: the narration is world class. I will definitely follow the works of both artists.

Listen to this book pls.!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

If true, beautifully described; if fiction, beautifully conceived!

Looking forward to more from this brilliant young writer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting!

An enlightening look into the behind the scenes of fancy restaurants. Easy listen, well told.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

A sobering account of what’s behind the glamorous façade of a Parisian restaurant. The story telling rivals that of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London. Beautifully written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Engaging

Fun, unpretentious look at restaurant work in Paris. Really dispels the illusion many would assume.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Genuine story

Love the human and inhuman factor of the story. Some of the chapters could have dug deeper, but overall really enjoyed the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The best Paris memoir I’ve read in years

Loved this story of a different side of Paris. If you’ve ever traveled to Paris and thought, “You don’t have to tip well in France, waiters get a decent salary,” read this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Makes you think about the service industry

Really entertaining, although depressing, true account about what goes on behind the scenes. Well written and terrific
narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Real nice story niche

Close dining serving, is in an emotion ocean.

An American, working a Parisian restraunt. Just a great human story from the street levels of hot, gritty, social, Paris.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story…but the accents!

I greatly enjoyed the book but Geordie and Scouse accents ascribed to the English rendition of French speech is abominable!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!