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The Deli Diaries
Fresh out of art school with a pile of debt and a broken heart, Della moves into her parents’ basement in suburban Nebraska and lands a “temporary” job as a deli clerk. Struggling to smile under the small talk of corporate commands, she contends with mind-numbing eight-hour shifts, bumbling management, ruthless secret shoppers, and a crew of misfit coworkers. Despite the monotonous drudgery, can Della stay true to herself and find creative inspiration in a life behind the counter? With inimitable quirkiness and fever dream flair, Ella Weber’s debut novel is a hysterical yet heartfelt parody of millennial plight, Midwest mediocrity, overweening artistic ambition, and the inanity of the daily delicatessen grind. As inventive and entertaining as autofiction gets, The Deli Diaries is an unforgettable slice of life unafraid to ask the big Who ham I? What ham I? Where ham I?
Praise for The Deli "A stream-of-consciousness tour through a shift that is at once one day and many days, with Della pontificating on life, reality shows, dating, the patriarchy, and everything in between." --Kirkus Reviews
"Weber sees to the depths of America's depravity and manages to keep on laughing. The thing is to both see it and survive it, and somehow Ella Weber and her fictional alter ego, Della, the Sybil of the supermarket, has done this. Caustic and suave, serious and weightless, ecstatic and dangling over the abyss, The Deli Diaries is the Great American Novel I have been waiting for." --Sofi Thanhauser, author of A People's History of Clothing
"Delightful mayHAM. The perfect book for those who don't read." --Noa Osheroff, writer, director, and comedy producer
“Who ham I,” Ella Weber’s narrator, Della, asks amid the gleaming aisles of her supermarket workplace, and the postmodern abundance answers as it always does, with countless cravings and bafflements. A weird, wonderful fusion of Bridget Jones’s Diary and White Noise , The Deli Diaries is an all-American mirror and window, bildungsroman and standup routine, manifesto and fever dream." --Todd Robinson, author of Mass for Shut-Ins and Note at Heart Rock
"Ella is an American treasure, a diamond in the rough, a writer in a suburban Nebraska grocery store deli. She brings lightness to the mundane and hope to a hopeless place; a suburban Nebraska grocery story deli." --Andy Haynes, writer, actor, and stand-up comedian “This glimpse of a world through the lens of character (undoubtedly Ms. Weber herself) is a delightfully voyeuristic trip into the wit and humor that sustains us through an otherwise dismal, immutable reality. Few have the ability to translate it so charmingly into humanity. Weber is one of them.” --Ammi Midstokke, author of All the Mountain Misadventure, Relationshipping, and Other Hazards of an Off-Grid Life
"Having lived the book daily through proximity with the author and after reading 72 pages, I endorse this book." --Ella's dad
Praise for The Deli "A stream-of-consciousness tour through a shift that is at once one day and many days, with Della pontificating on life, reality shows, dating, the patriarchy, and everything in between." --Kirkus Reviews
"Weber sees to the depths of America's depravity and manages to keep on laughing. The thing is to both see it and survive it, and somehow Ella Weber and her fictional alter ego, Della, the Sybil of the supermarket, has done this. Caustic and suave, serious and weightless, ecstatic and dangling over the abyss, The Deli Diaries is the Great American Novel I have been waiting for." --Sofi Thanhauser, author of A People's History of Clothing
"Delightful mayHAM. The perfect book for those who don't read." --Noa Osheroff, writer, director, and comedy producer
“Who ham I,” Ella Weber’s narrator, Della, asks amid the gleaming aisles of her supermarket workplace, and the postmodern abundance answers as it always does, with countless cravings and bafflements. A weird, wonderful fusion of Bridget Jones’s Diary and White Noise , The Deli Diaries is an all-American mirror and window, bildungsroman and standup routine, manifesto and fever dream." --Todd Robinson, author of Mass for Shut-Ins and Note at Heart Rock
"Ella is an American treasure, a diamond in the rough, a writer in a suburban Nebraska grocery store deli. She brings lightness to the mundane and hope to a hopeless place; a suburban Nebraska grocery story deli." --Andy Haynes, writer, actor, and stand-up comedian “This glimpse of a world through the lens of character (undoubtedly Ms. Weber herself) is a delightfully voyeuristic trip into the wit and humor that sustains us through an otherwise dismal, immutable reality. Few have the ability to translate it so charmingly into humanity. Weber is one of them.” --Ammi Midstokke, author of All the Mountain Misadventure, Relationshipping, and Other Hazards of an Off-Grid Life
"Having lived the book daily through proximity with the author and after reading 72 pages, I endorse this book." --Ella's dad
298 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2023
6 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2025
Not only is Ella (Della) a great novelist and a super funny person, she was also great at teaching art classes in 2018 (where we met).
I bought this book to be supportive, but then recently, Ella gave a book talk in my town and it was so enjoyable/amusing that I had to read this book immediately. It was deli-ghtful and I “ham” happy to recommend it—not just because I know her, but because it’s truly so entertaining.
Some people are just more talented and creative than the rest of us, and that’s Ella.
I bought this book to be supportive, but then recently, Ella gave a book talk in my town and it was so enjoyable/amusing that I had to read this book immediately. It was deli-ghtful and I “ham” happy to recommend it—not just because I know her, but because it’s truly so entertaining.
Some people are just more talented and creative than the rest of us, and that’s Ella.
May 22, 2024
How is this fiction when it is so relatable it hurts? Felt like I was entering into a better version of my twenties because the characters were so lovable. Heart wrenching, hilarious, clever, and warm. This book is worth the time and you’ll wish it were longer
September 16, 2023
read if u like:
- existential fiction about the capitalism hellscape
- an array of weird and zany characters
- dry and clever humor
- fiction that plays with the novel form (there’s text here that bounces, forms shapes and ebbs and flows on the page)
- if you currently work or have worked in the service industry
- smart wordplay
- stories about lost protagonists trying to make the best out of their situations
- auto-fiction
- existential fiction about the capitalism hellscape
- an array of weird and zany characters
- dry and clever humor
- fiction that plays with the novel form (there’s text here that bounces, forms shapes and ebbs and flows on the page)
- if you currently work or have worked in the service industry
- smart wordplay
- stories about lost protagonists trying to make the best out of their situations
- auto-fiction
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews