"The Tender Bar" by J.R. Moehringer

Sometimes reading great writing can be an odd thing for me... both inspiring and frustrating. The inspiring part comes from thinking I could maybe write just as well and the frustrating part comes from thinking maybe I can't.

There's a duality in there which makes me think of other dualities like Jacques Derrida's "difference vs differance" (which I mention in this post on the words and their import) or the Bryce Courtenay quote (apparently borrowed from elsewhere) "together since the world began, the madman and the lover" from his book "Tandia" (which I reference in this post dealing with South Africa).

But, enough digression into dualities. What this post is about is about is great writing... specifically in the form of J.R. Moehringer's memoir "The Tender Bar."



Moehringer is the co-author of Andre Agassi's brilliant memoir "Open"... which I reviewed here. I wasn't really aware of Agassi's collaborator other than that he didn't want his name on the cover so as to not distract from Agassi. Really glad I did hear of "The Tender Bar", though, as it's good for the same reason that I enjoyed "Open" so much. The big similarity between the two memoirs is their honesty... each memoir lays the subject bare on the table for readers to examine and (to borrow a phrase) sift through the entrails of their lives and take as a reader what they will.

The Agassi book is more widely read with he being a famous athlete, but Moehringer's personal memoir is even more interesting to me in that it traces the events of his life that helped lead up to being a writer. Specifically, it's about growing up with a single mother and male role models who haunt the Manhasset, Long Island bar Dickens (which later became Publicans and eventually Edison's and is referenced in the book title).


What I took from "The Tender Bar"...

- Entertainment via a well told yarn about how other people live.

Moehringer's time growing up didn't seem to reach the dysfunction in that of Augusten Burroughs youth, but I will say that his story was similar in that he grew up in a completely different time, place and atmosphere than I know... which is me thinks a good thing for a reader.


- The idea of life events, people and their ability to impact... but, how that impact is not preordained.

It would be easy to read this book and conclude that Moehringer was destined to be a writer due to his introduction to literature at a young age, mentorship from zealot-like bookstore workers and time spent at a bar where people cared about great writing. Heck, keep in mind the place started out called Dickens.

I don't think that's a safe assumption, though, as throughout there's a number of metaphorical forks in road that Moehringer came to and which ultimately would up with he being a working author. Not to give away any portion of the book and it's events, but it's interesting to read of how some of those forks in the road are ones that the author chose and some were entirely chosen for him. I think the idea here is that it's simply really interesting to see the turns that one's life takes and how one event or choice can impact what's to follow. Got to try to take from things, people and places (including bars) what they have to give you and then move forward...


- Great stuff about writing... as well as the process around it.

There's frequent references to great works of literature such as "The Great Gatsby" (which was set by Fitzgerald in the Moehringer's hometown of Manhasset), "Great Expectations" by Dickens and "Finnegan's Wake" from Joyce.

Beyond this, there's some really profound statements made by Moehringer that bear noting here.

- Description of his various father figures and finding that the way to get close was through "words being their password."

- Quote from the author after reverentially describing the people at Dickens... "these exaggerations weren't false, they were what I believed."

- Story told Moehringer by a Priest... "Do you know why God invented writers? Because he loves a good story. And He doesn't give a damn about words. Words are the curtain we've hung between Him and our true selves. Try not to think about words. Don't strain for the perfect sentence. There's no such thing. Writing is guesswork. Every sentence is an educated guess, the reader's as much as yours. Think about that the next time you cur a piece of paper into your typewriter."

- Perhaps due to this "Divine lesson", there's mention from Moehringer fairly late in the book of how began to write well when he didn't focus on producing great prose, but rather simply getting words out on a page.

- How good writing is above all, truthful writing. This is I suppose mandatory for memoir writing (well, perhaps not for all), but me thinks it can be extrapolated as a statement about all good writing. Whether it's as interesting (to many) as the story of a tennis champion (Agassi), a writer who spent a lot of time at a bar (Moehringer) or a guy trying to build a career (me), there's a lot to be said for open and honest writing.


- A desire to read more from and about Moehringer.

Mention is made in the epilogue of how September 11 brought him back to Manhasset and then Moehringer writing a story for the LA Times about his cousin Tim who died in the Towers. Also referenced is another piece for the Times about Manhasset itself and the impact of Sept 11 on the town.

Additionally, there's bibliography links on Moehringer's Wikipedia page and the book website can be found here.


Great book, loved it.

Words Written Down - The School Days

What things do we write that stick with us? Well, it's probably not a terribly important question for most people, but for those who fancy themselves writer types (me being one of those), it's pretty important.

For the purpose of this missive, I'm interested in looking back at the writings of note (you know, to me) that I did in school.

High School - not "The Wonder Years", but still a time I wrote some stuff that I remember to this day. As an aside... I was a voracious reader in elementary school and think it not a stretch to proclaim that the foundation of my interest in writing.

Two things written in High School I remember...

- An extemporaneous writing assignment for Yearbook Class. While it's true that I didn't do much else there, I do remember having my paper brought up in class as being really good. Who knew?

- My admission essay for University of Puget Sound. The topic was Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and I recall being told by the interviewer that it was one his favorite essays on the book. Maybe he was just humoring me because I didn't get into the school (course, I also blew off their social mixer), but I did like being told I could write well.

-----

College - needs to be separated into Undergrad and Graduate writing.

As an Undergraduate English major, I recall a couple of things...

The process I would follow to write Freshman English papers. First step would be to do a free write on the topic... elapsed time, 4 hours. Next would be to take what I wrote and write a new document based on the original... elapsed time, 4 hours. Final step would be to rewrite and revise this new document... elapsed time, 4 hours. Now, perhaps I'm remembering spending more time than was the case, but that's how I recall it. Guess the lesson here is that it takes work to do good work... a concept written about in my last blog post.

Literary Theory class was another one that I remember for the writing. To generate papers for the class I would read something, take a specific nugget from it and then figure out how to write about that one sliver in a larger context... hopefully a completely different context than others might consider. While this was the process I enjoyed, the topic I remember being most interested in from this class was Jacques Derrida and his writings on "difference" vs "differance"... a very cool look at context and meaning.

Also have found memories of a paper I wrote for a Native American Studies class. For the content of the piece, I basically copied an encyclopedia entry on the native tribe in question, but did so as if I was telling a story through the eyes of a village elder. One might quibble and consider this a form of plagiarism, but I instead think of it as a preamble to my interest in historical fiction.

-----

As a Grad Student, I recall most fondly an essay I wrote in class as part of an exam. I don't recall the exact assignment, but I know the end product I wound up with was a paper on how Major League Baseball at the time appeared to use business strategies taken out of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War." Only problem was that MLB seemed to be using multiple strategies against themselves... not a great way to run a business. Was fun to write and yea... I was recognized for it which felt good.

In summary of the words on pages portion of my time in school: producing stuff you like to write and having people appreciate it... both very worthwhile things.