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The Tender Bar
A Memoir
by J.R. Moehringer


9.6

based on 16 reviews
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based on 21 votes
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The New Yorker's memoir centers on his corner bar, and its typically colorful cast of regulars.

Hyperion, 384 pages
09/01/2005
$23.95

ISBN: 1401300642

Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Kirkus Reviews

A straight-up account of masculinity, maturity and memory that leaves a smile on the face and an ache in the heart. [15 Jul 2005, p. 779]

Library Journal Jan Brue Enright

ust like at Cheers, everybody knew your name at Publicans. They also knew your cousin's name, your grade point average, and the best Frank Sinatra song to mend a broken heart. [1 Sep 2005, p. 142]

Los Angeles Times Donna Rifkind

An aching torch song of a memoir. [11 Sep 2005, p. R8]

New York Observer Alexandra Jacobs

The Tender Bar is quite simply... wunderbar! [29 Aug 2005, p. 18]

Booklist Keir Graff

Funny, honest, and insightful, The Tender Bar finds universal themes in an unusual upbringing and declares a real love of barroom life without romanticizing it too much. [Aug 2005, p. 1969]

The New York Times Janet Maslin

[Moehringer]'s the best memoirist of his kind since Mary Karr wrote "The Liars' Club." [His] book is a doozy.

The New York Times Book Review Jonathan Miles

A melancholy romance between a boy and a corner saloon that's as smoky and heart-crackling as a Sinatra 78.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Moehringer has hours and hours of stories that any bar hound worth his stool would bend both ears to drink in. Thankfully, the writer has opted to put them down on paper

Houston Chronicle Brad Tyer

Hard to tell if [this is] a mislabeled novel or a misleading memoir, but in the end it hardly matters. The sheer worry that's gone into buffing the gloss is impressive.

Publishers Weekly Terry Golway

More than anything else, Moehringer's book is a homage to the culture of the local pub. [27 Jun 2005, p. 50]

San Francisco Chronicle Michael Jaime-Becerra

Throughout his memoir, Moehringer's depictions of the bar and the culture that thrives there are always vivid, and his affection for his subjects is tangible.

USA Today Bob Minzesheimer

Alternately heartbreaking and hilarious.

Washington Post Bob Ivry

The book ends up being funny, vivid and clever, peppered with self-deprecation and populated by larger-than-life lugs.

Chicago Tribune Art Winslow

Phrase by phrase, Moehringer's writing is consistently strong, but it quickly becomes apparent that his anecdotes unerringly dovetail to some epiphany or literary stroke. In the best interpretation, that represents clever shaping of fortuitous material; in the worst, it suggests a sort of barroom latitude in telling the tale. [27 Nov. 2005, p. C1]

Daily Telegraph Lawrence Norfolk

The Tender Bar is a memoir, but has the texture of a novel. Some of the incidents stretch credulity... and some of the minutely-reported speech, recalled or researched decades later, does too.

The New Yorker

Perhaps as a result of his reverence for the [bar]--and despite his assurances that he can accurately recall drunken conversations long past--scenes there often feel contrived and mawkish.

The average user rating for this book is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Cheryl gave it a10:
Wonderful! I loved this book. I may read it again. I was saddened to read about his mom's falling out with her sister.

judi b gave it a7:
Oversentimentalized novel- The author even admits this tendency. However, lots of insightful detail. I was able to take breaks and put the book down and actually had a hard time finishing it.

Donna R gave it a10:
A perfect book to read on a rainy, gloomy New Year's Day. I began it and finished it on the same day. It's been said before, but I did not want it to end. Much crying,laughing, and underlining!

VMP Lan gave it a10:
vivid description and truly insightful. once you pick up this book, you can hardly put it down. the only worry is you might finish the book too soon..

Kate M gave it a9:
Written with a wry and warm voice, Moehringer's memoir wrestles our universal demons and rights of passage in a way that brings meaning to the everyday. Genuine, bittersweet and provocative, you'll want to continue the conversation long after last call.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
One of the best books you'll ever read...

John M gave it a10:
Unique talent for character description--physical and emotional--poetic and Cheever like. A marvelous read.

The Tender Bar A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer

The Tender Bar
A Memoir
by J.R. Moehringer