The Tender Bar

A Memoir

By: J. R. Moehringer

Narrated by: Adam Grupper, Daniel Thomas May

Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

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 best seller.

©2017 J. R. Moehringer (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

Borders New Voices Finalist

Winner of the Books for a Better Life First Book Award

Booksense Pick

Unforgettable

I just finished listening to this book and I think it will stay with me for a long time. one of the most tender, passionate, humble and human story I ever met. Thanks to Andre Agassi for the tip!

Over excellent.

Occasionally wordy, and over done, but not all the time. Mostly great stuff. His betting uncle's story about boxing is a great moment in literature imo. Much, much better then the movie- and the movie was good.

Fantastic!

I did not want this story to end. The characters were ifull of character and humor. Enjoyed every minute of this story. And the narrator did a super job!

Good movie, great book!

Saw the movie then read the book. Books are always better than the movies … and while the movie wasn’t bad, the book was much better! So wonderful, so many things I loved about JR’s life experiences. Inspirational!

Must Read

I read the book when it was first published and I've never forgotten it.

my book club is reading it this month and I was interested in listening to it. the narration was excellent and hearing the book still made my heart skip and tears shed at the beauty of this book.

loved every word

First of all, this narrator should narrate all books forever. He had me glued to each character that he brought to life. Bravo.
I too grew up without a father figure and a mother who struggled to provide, but for young girls, "daddy issues" turns out much differently than for our JR. I felt as if I were sitting beside them at Publicans. Every day. Uncle Charlie and the rest of the guys raised that kid right, whether they knew it at the time or not.
The tears started at Steve's death, and never really stopped after that. I'm going to start it over and listen again. It was that good.

Excellent!!!

My new #1 favorite book on audible. Wanted to listen to the book before watching it on Netflix. I’m sure I’ll be disappointed with the movie.

Spectacular!

If you are a lover of words and the beauty they hold, this book is for you!

First Timer

This is the first book that I’ve read by this author. A most enjoyable experience. His vocabulary and character descriptions bring the story to life. I was right there in the midst of them all. The narration was the best I’ve heard on audible. If you are going to watch the movie, I strongly suggest that you read the book before viewing. I’m about to order J.R.’s other book, Sutton. I hope that it’s as good as Tender Bar. I’ll let you know!

Must be read twice Well worth it

I originally read the Tender Bar in, I think, 2007. And if you listen to the account the writer shares about the reader he spoke to that got it mostly wrong, I would be that reader then. While I liked the book then, I remembered a few things wrong, not a few, too many. Now 15 years later, I could relate to JR Moehringer much better and it made for a more enjoyable read. Like the author I grew up with a absent father who never gave my mom penny one. The difference is I have 5 other brothers and sisters. I am going wait another year then read this memoir again. If for no other reason than to see what else I may have missed or got wrong