In the grand tradition of landmark memoirs, The Tender Bar is a classic American story of self-invention and escape. It's a narrative that weaves together the fierce love between a single mother and an only son, and presents an unforgettable depiction of how men remain, at heart, lost boys.

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. Longing for the secrets of masculinity and identity that seemed to be broadcast through that voice, J.R. turned to the bar on the corner in desperation when he could no longer find The Voice on the radio. There, he found a chorus of new voices: cops and poets, bookies and soldiers, movie stars and stumblebums. 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. under their wing. They taught him, tended to him, and provided a kind of fatherhood-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 as he grew older, the bar became an increasingly seductive sanctuary, a place to return and regroup during his picaresque journeys. From his grandfather's tumbledown house to the hallowed towers and spires of Yale; from his stint selling housewares at Lord & Taylor to his dream job at the New York Times, the bar offered shelter from failure, rejection, heartbreak--and eventually from reality.

The Tender Bar is suspenseful, wrenching, and achingly funny. An essential read for those who appreciate the complexities of growing up and the compelling tales of those who seek to navigate its many paths.