Busboys and Bistros

My favorite thing about this essay by Jackie Kruszewski is the way it embraces, and revels in the delights of, a job that most of us would consider stressful and exhausting. It’s true: Jackie loves waitressing. She does it for fun.

Last year (or maybe it was the year before?), Jackie asked me to recommend a book by a Russian author. She was canvassing friends for travel-appropriate literatary recommendations in advance of a trip to Moscow. I insisted she borrow my copy of Master and Margarita.

Some friends remember to return books but many don’t, and I never keep track of the books I loan out. When I loan a book, I assume I might never see it again, which is perfectly fine by me.

But not only did Jackie make a point of returning my Penguin paperback edition of Master and Margarita, she returned it with a bookmark from a cafe in Moscow based on the novel. In return for loaning her an ordinary paperback, I got back a literary keepsake to slip between the covers of one of my all-time favorite novels.

All of which is to say: Jackie Kruszewski: Great writer, class act.

Enjoy more of Jackie’s writing here and here.

Photo of the Latin Quarter in Paris taken from This Recording.