A writer of Stewart O'Nan's productivity (10 novels and two nonfiction books in 13 years) requires a lot of concentration. No diversions or side trips along the way.

No grand designs, either. O'Nan lets the reader's imagination consider the greater implications of his writing while he sticks to the story and character.

		"LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER" By Stewart O'Nan Viking ($19.95)

The results are novels that do ample justice to their specific subject because O'Nan works extensively within the confines of his books without going outside them.

In fact, he's honed his skills so sharply that his new novel is a densely packed 146 pages with few wasted words. It's O'Nan at his most concentrated.

The story's all about time and place: The last day at a Red Lobster chain restaurant closed just before Christmas due to slow business.

Working stiffs immediately understand the theme: Good workers cut loose because the bean counters don't like the bottom line.

O'Nan doesn't pound us over the head with it, but lets the character of Manny DeLeon, the conscientious manager, show us.

Single and 35, Manny covets his independence despite a pregnant girlfriend who can't get him to stay over. His first responsibility is running the Lobster, once bustling with more than 40 employees, now down to five on the last day. These people are his family, even though they steal, goof off and complain.

The charmless assembly-line building and its monotonous menu become another world of real people and their problems -- which are Manny's problems once the shift begins.

As a blizzard builds outside, Manny tries to keep the plates moving inside, despite a staff that begins to abandon ship as the snow piles up. His ex-girlfriend, waitress Jacquie, hangs around as a reminder of what kind of life Manny might have had with her.

O'Nan, who was a dishwasher at a Squirrel Hill caterer when he was an Allderdice High School student, knows the kitchen territory and language intimately and soon, we know it, too. He calls this book his take on "A Christmas Carol," a slim volume as well, but one with a lot to say.

"Last Night at the Lobster" doesn't have Dickens' warm and fuzzy ending, but it is a paean to those who do their job and do it well despite the weather, a broken heart and the indifference of corporate mentality.