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The Tender Bar
Now a major Amazon film directed by George Clooney and starring Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Lily Rabe, and Christopher Lloyd, a raucous, poignant, luminously written memoir about a boy striving to become a man, and his romance with a bar, in the tradition of This Boy's Life and The Liar's Club-with a new Afterword.
J.R. Moehringer grew up captivated by a voice. It was the voice of his father, a New York City disc jockey who vanished before J.R. spoke his first word. Sitting on the stoop, pressing an ear to the radio, J.R. would strain to hear in that plummy baritone the secrets of masculinity and identity. Though J.R.'s mother was his world, his rock, he craved something more, something faintly and hauntingly audible only in The Voice.
At eight years old, suddenly unable to find The Voice on the radio, J.R. turned in desperation to the bar on the corner, where he found a rousing chorus of new voices. The alphas along the bar-including J.R.'s Uncle Charlie, a Humphrey Bogart look-alike; Colt, a Yogi Bear sound-alike; and Joey D, a softhearted brawler-took J.R. to the beach, to ballgames, and ultimately into their circle. They taught J.R., tended him, and provided a kind of fathering-by-committee. Torn between the stirring example of his mother and the lurid romance of the bar, J.R. tried to forge a self somewhere in the center. But when it was time for J.R. to leave home, the bar became an increasingly seductive sanctuary, a place to return and regroup during his picaresque journeys. Time and again the bar offered shelter from failure, rejection, heartbreak-and eventually from reality.
In the grand tradition of landmark memoirs, The Tender Bar is suspenseful, wrenching, and achingly funny. A classic American story of self-invention and escape, of the fierce love between a single mother and an only son, it's also a moving portrait of one boy's struggle to become a man, and an unforgettable depiction of how men remain, at heart, lost boys.
Named a best book of the year by The New York Times, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR's "Fresh Air," and New York Magazine
A New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Booksense, and Library Journal Bestseller
Booksense Pick
Borders New Voices Finalist
Winner of the Books for a Better Life First Book Award
J.R. Moehringer grew up captivated by a voice. It was the voice of his father, a New York City disc jockey who vanished before J.R. spoke his first word. Sitting on the stoop, pressing an ear to the radio, J.R. would strain to hear in that plummy baritone the secrets of masculinity and identity. Though J.R.'s mother was his world, his rock, he craved something more, something faintly and hauntingly audible only in The Voice.
At eight years old, suddenly unable to find The Voice on the radio, J.R. turned in desperation to the bar on the corner, where he found a rousing chorus of new voices. The alphas along the bar-including J.R.'s Uncle Charlie, a Humphrey Bogart look-alike; Colt, a Yogi Bear sound-alike; and Joey D, a softhearted brawler-took J.R. to the beach, to ballgames, and ultimately into their circle. They taught J.R., tended him, and provided a kind of fathering-by-committee. Torn between the stirring example of his mother and the lurid romance of the bar, J.R. tried to forge a self somewhere in the center. But when it was time for J.R. to leave home, the bar became an increasingly seductive sanctuary, a place to return and regroup during his picaresque journeys. Time and again the bar offered shelter from failure, rejection, heartbreak-and eventually from reality.
In the grand tradition of landmark memoirs, The Tender Bar is suspenseful, wrenching, and achingly funny. A classic American story of self-invention and escape, of the fierce love between a single mother and an only son, it's also a moving portrait of one boy's struggle to become a man, and an unforgettable depiction of how men remain, at heart, lost boys.
Named a best book of the year by The New York Times, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR's "Fresh Air," and New York Magazine
A New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Booksense, and Library Journal Bestseller
Booksense Pick
Borders New Voices Finalist
Winner of the Books for a Better Life First Book Award
Editorial Reviews
"Simply a wonderful book about a heaven of a life that had everything going against it except intense love."―James Salter, author of Burning the Days
"Moehringer has crafted a yearning, lyrical account of his fatherless youth and the companionship he found...among the Dickensian characters at a neighborhood bar."―The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The Tender Bar will make you thirsty for that life--its camaraderie, its hilarity, its seductive, dangerous wisdom."―Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls
"The best memoirist of his kind since Mary Karr wrote The Liars' Club."―The New York Times
"In his gimlet-eyed memoir, The Tender Bar, J.R. Moehringer lovingly and affectingly toasts a boyhood spent on a barstool."―Vanity Fair
"The best thing about The Tender Bar is that it is many stories in one."―Entertainment Weekly
"A memoir about coming of age in, of all places, a great American bar. Blessedly, Moehringer's story is both joyous and triumphant."―David Halberstam
"A beautiful, gravelly love letter."―The New York Times Book Review
"[Moehringer] deftly acknowledges his background's writerly connections, describing his journey--from fatherless urchin living in his grandfather's messy house to hard-drinking New York Times copyboy--with Dickensian grandeur and displaying good humor about his failures."―PEOPLE Magazine (Critic's Choice)
"Supremely great."―Graydon Carter
"J. R. Moehringer has found a new perfect."―Esquire
"It's a fierce and funny coming-of-age story about ambition and yearning and necessary betrayals . . . superb literary brew."―NPR "Fresh Air"
"An engaging delight."―The San Francisco Chronicle
"Intoxicating and sobering. Emotionally engrossing, beautifully written."―<...
"Moehringer has crafted a yearning, lyrical account of his fatherless youth and the companionship he found...among the Dickensian characters at a neighborhood bar."―The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The Tender Bar will make you thirsty for that life--its camaraderie, its hilarity, its seductive, dangerous wisdom."―Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls
"The best memoirist of his kind since Mary Karr wrote The Liars' Club."―The New York Times
"In his gimlet-eyed memoir, The Tender Bar, J.R. Moehringer lovingly and affectingly toasts a boyhood spent on a barstool."―Vanity Fair
"The best thing about The Tender Bar is that it is many stories in one."―Entertainment Weekly
"A memoir about coming of age in, of all places, a great American bar. Blessedly, Moehringer's story is both joyous and triumphant."―David Halberstam
"A beautiful, gravelly love letter."―The New York Times Book Review
"[Moehringer] deftly acknowledges his background's writerly connections, describing his journey--from fatherless urchin living in his grandfather's messy house to hard-drinking New York Times copyboy--with Dickensian grandeur and displaying good humor about his failures."―PEOPLE Magazine (Critic's Choice)
"Supremely great."―Graydon Carter
"J. R. Moehringer has found a new perfect."―Esquire
"It's a fierce and funny coming-of-age story about ambition and yearning and necessary betrayals . . . superb literary brew."―NPR "Fresh Air"
"An engaging delight."―The San Francisco Chronicle
"Intoxicating and sobering. Emotionally engrossing, beautifully written."―<...
Readers Top Reviews
J. Danielsnick wi
I normally don’t write reviews, but this book was the best surprise. I was totally engrossed with it until I finished it. When I was reading it, I was thinking it was fiction, but knowing that it is a memoir makes it that much better. I was routing for the main character the entire time and I was completely transported to Publicans and felt like I knew all of its characters throughout the book. Moehringer certainly can craft a story and is an excellent writer. I kind of don’t want to watch the movie, because I know it won’t live up to the greatness of this novel. Up until this point I always say The Goldfinch is my favorite novel, I will certainly add this to my mentions in the future.
PhilJ. Danielsnic
An engaging story of growing up in a turbulent time, with a loving hard working mother and several strong caring men of the local bar. Well written and honest, with heartfelt emotions associated with the young mans life experiences. Except for the epilogue, this could be any mans story of growing up, being influenced by the family and company of proud men. The child and young man without a father, in any community tavern, make a strong case for the character and strength of men, and a boy becoming a man. The story centers on a truly American bar and the cadre of folks that are regulars. The book also provides excellent insight on the roll of drinking and the implications associated with being a regular. This book feels very personal, and of the authors soul. Thank you JR.
Sue in Clearwater
This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Full disclosure: my entire family and best friends on earth spent many years at J.R.'s Tender Bar, and every single one of us who read his book have been mesmerized by his talent for spinning all of our tales. His journey through childhood failings and desires to his eventual bar stool in paradise is so touching and entertaining that everyone who shares in his masterful storytelling will feel as if they had been there too. The author's embodiment of everything he remembers lights each page with someone you want to be pals with as well. I promise you that this loving story of adoration will inspire all, and make them wish that they could remember everything that formed them into the accomplished person they became. J.R.. where are you now? Please bless us with a telling of your newest adventures!
Robert StevensSue
A different Hortio Alger story - a guy from a totally disfunctional family, obviously gifted with unrecognized but nonetheless good "seed" somehow gets into Yale on full ride...graduates and falls back into the same rut he tried to avoid (or did he) The family and friends at The Dickens shaped him all the way to LA Times - This Book suddenly puts him on the map. He is an excellent communicator, and considering his mixed background, he eventually succeeds - hope his encouraging and tenacious mom did as well!
AnnpatrickhmcgRob
A long dreary slog that creates one alcohol based relationship after another. A terrific example of how the good old days were really the useless drunken days. Nothing redeeming about this one.
