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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
An interesting memoir. The author grew up the next town over from me around the same time I did, which was the main reason I wanted to read his story. But that’s where the similarity ended. Still, the book had elements of humor, sadness, compassion, frustration. A well-written exploration of a young boy and man’s coming to grips with the abandonment of his father.
A boy without a father found a group of men to sub in that role. Interesting saga of those men, a bar that was integral to their lives, and the boy's growing into a man.
This one is tough to review. I read an article in The New Yorker about JR and found it very interesting. I was thinking about reading his book written with Agassi but decided to start with his own memoir. He’s a remarkable storyteller and his descriptions of people are very well done. At the beginning I was loving everything about the book but towards the end, I was feeling irritated by his obsession with this bar and despite his ability to pull you into his world, I was anxious for it to come to an end. The reward for sticking it out was the afterword. It bought into focus the central idea and was a welcome conclusion.
I have to admit that this is a repeat read - I wanted to read it in anticipation of the movie so I can say "That's not how it was in the book!". I never love a movie as much as I love the book, so I wanted to drink in all the wonderfulness of this story before I saw the movie.
I loved the characters in this book and the author's struggles to find his place in the world.
I loved the characters in this book and the author's struggles to find his place in the world.
After my second read of "Tender Bar" I still think it's a great book. it's about a bar, about New York, but most of all it's about growing up and being your own person, not the one others expect you to be. It's about stepping out of the shadow of a childhood that wasn't prefect.
There is a part that seems to me as if dragged on needlessly: when JR is a cub reporter at the New York Times and visits the Publicans every night. The men's stories he tells are long and don't lead anywhere it seems.
But then I thought it's just right the way it's told - that was what life was like for JR at this time.
A great read - the end brought me to tears as it did the first time.
There is a part that seems to me as if dragged on needlessly: when JR is a cub reporter at the New York Times and visits the Publicans every night. The men's stories he tells are long and don't lead anywhere it seems.
But then I thought it's just right the way it's told - that was what life was like for JR at this time.
A great read - the end brought me to tears as it did the first time.
I cannot even begin to express the extent to which I did not enjoy this book.
Very strong writers with a gift for description and characterization, but too often goes off on semi-related tangents that have little to no bearing to the greater story at hand: the abandonment issues that color JR's every action. Though his attachment to the men of the "Tender Bar" engage the reader, there are times when plot advancement suffers from the writer's inability to separate the important and illuminating facts of the story from those that are merely of passing interest. This isn't to say that reading 'The Tender Bar' isn't worth it, but be prepared for a few pages here and there that do much to further illustrate the various traits of the books many characters, and little to push the story forward.
Really enjoyed. I was hesitant at first, when I discovered this was a book about a bar, having grown up in the shadow of one where I often had to retrieve my father who was too drunk to make it home on his own. But the further I read, the more I enjoyed. This is a story of a young man earning for a father's influence, but finds something better. A boy so afraid of failure that he won't take a chance. The favorite line of the book for me is "Are we hiding from life or courting death? And what's the difference?" I always felt that way when I considered the men and women who spent nights and weekends away from their families, drowning their sorrows in beer or hard liquor, often with strangers. What was so bad about life that it felt better to spend it in a drug-induced stupor? Why the fear? While the author may not have provided the answer, he did provide some powerful insights, and for that I am grateful. It was definitely worth the read.