The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer

This is the true story of a young boy growing up without a father. His father abused his mother when he was a baby, so she left the father. J.R. and his mother moved in with his grandparents, his aunt, his uncle, and his six cousins, all living in a small, falling-apart home. The atmosphere was chaotic, the grandfather was verbally abusive to his wife, there was much fighting going on, and so, understandably, this young, sensitive boy needed some positive male role models in his life. He found them a couple blocks away, at the local pub.

This story takes place on Long Island, in the small town of Manhasset (where The Great Gatsby was based). J.R.'s Uncle Charlie, a bartender at the bar, introduces him to the regular patrons of the bar, and they take the poor young boy under their wings and, for the next 20 years, are there for him whenever he needs support, advice, teaching, or just an ear to listen.

Someone might think that a bar is no place for a young boy, and he certainly grew up amongst alcoholics, chronic smokers, addicted gamblers, and raunchy language. But the men in the bar, and the bar itself, were more special to him than anyone could imagine. He grew up to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, and he currently works as a writer for the Los Angeles Times.

His was a fascinating story, filled with characters who, on the outside, might have appeared one way, but on the inside, where it counts, they were a wonderful influence on a young boy.