This fictional account of Orwell's salad days as a penniless British writer in the early 1930s contains a good deal of autobiography, no self-pity, and much humor. It has become famous for its exposé of working conditions inside the kitchens of posh French restaurants, where the book's narrator works at the bottom of the echelon as a dishwasher. Very funny, oftentimes bleak, and styled by the recognized master of 20th century prose, Orwell's behind-the-scenes restaurant tales will have you screaming for the check and eating at home forever.