Pierre is a veteran bartender in a café in the outskirts of Paris. He observes his customers as they come and go – the young man who drinks beer as he reads Primo Levi, the fellow who from time to time strips down and plunges into the nearby Seine, the few regulars who eat and drink there on credit – sizing them up with great accuracy and empathy. Pierre doesn’t look outside more than necessary; he prefers to let the world come to him. Soon, however, the café must close its doors, and Pierre finds himself at a loss. As we follow his stream of thoughts over three days, Pierre’s humanity and profound solitude both emerge. The Waitress Was New is a moving portrait of human anguish and weakness, of understated nobility and strength. Lire est un plaisir describes Dominique Fabre as a "magician of the everyday."

The Waitress Was New

Literature & Fiction

Fabre, Dominique

Dramas & Plays

Archipelago

"Fabre’s unexpectedly touching novel has a laugh of its own behind its low-key, smoothly translated narrative voice ... The city it evokes isn’t the Paris of tourists but of local people."The New York Times
"Fabre is a genius of these nuanced, interior moments ... The story Fabre tells is that of every one of us: looking for meaning in the mundane, moving through our lives, our interactions, as if through the fabric of a dream ... How do we live? it asks to consider. And: What does our existence mean?"Los Angeles Times
"Guys Like Me is a short, arresting tale that ...not only offers keen insights into the mind of its middle-aged protagonist, but also provides the reader with a unique tour of what everyday life in the low-key suburbs of Paris must truly be like."Typographical Era
"Readers will take pleasure in this well-told tale with a satisfying ending."Publishers Weekly
"The setting may be Paris, but it’s not the Paris of grand avenues and pricey cafés. In fact, Fabre’s hero is a recognizable everyman, from any country."Library Journal
A smile like a soft flash of light . . . travels through this moving novel and tells, in words that are muted and profoundly humane, of life as it is."Le Monde
"Fabre speaks to us of luck and misfortune, of the accidents that make a man or defeat him. He talks about our ordinary disappointments and our small moments of calm. Fabre is the discreet megaphone of the man in the crowd."Elle
"In this novel one finds the intimate geography of an author who lays bare the essence of Paris and its outskirts."La Quinzaine littéraire
Dominique Fabre, born in Paris and a lifelong resident of the city, exposes the shadowy, anonymous lives of many who inhabit the French capital. In this quiet, subdued tale, a middle-aged office worker, divorced and alienated from his only son, meets up with two childhood friends who are similarly adrift, without passions or prospects. He's looking for a second act to his mournful life, seeking the harbor of love and a true connection with his son. Set in palpably real Paris streets that feel miles away from the City of Light, Guys Like Me is a stirring novel of regret and absence, yet not without a glimmer of hope.
Dominique Fabre, born in 1960, writes about people living on society's margins. He is a lifelong resident of Paris, France. His previous novel, The Waitress Was New, was also translated into English.

Guys Like Me

Parenting & Relationships

New Vessel Press

A continuation of the very popular Very Christmas Series, this collection brings together the best French Christmas stories of all time in an elegant and vibrant volume featuring classics by Guy de Maupassant and Alphonse Daudet, plus stories by the esteemed twentieth century author Irène Némirovsky and contemporary writers Dominique Fabre and Jean-Philippe Blondel. With a holiday spirit conveyed through sparkling Paris streets, opulent feasts, wandering orphans, kindly monks, homesick soldiers, oysters, ham, bonbons, flickering desire, and more than a little wine, this collection encapsulates Noël and proves that the French have mastered Christmas. This is Christmas à la française―delicious, intense and unexpected―proving that nobody does Christmas like the French.

A Very French Christmas: The Greatest French Holiday Stories of All Time (Very Christmas, 2)

De Maupassant, Guy

FRANCE, ANATOLE

Némirovsky, Irène

Blondel, Jean-Philippe

DAUDET, ALPHONSE

Literary

My Life as Edgar

Les types comme moi

Genre Fiction

FAYARD

Trois passagers

LES AVRILS

Photos volées

OLIVIER

Ma vie d'Edgar

MOTIFS

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Books by Fabre, Dominique