Most Recently Read: The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig
To be honest, I finished this book in May, so I'm going off memory, and this i going to be a short review. As I've said before, I'm a sucker for coming of age stories, so naturally, I love this one. I especially liked Russell's relationship with Zoey, including his assumption that he wouldn't like her because was a girl. My favorite character though, was probably Teddy because... well... linguist.
What I find particularly interesting about this book is that its target audience seems to be adults, rather than children. Usually, I think of coming of age stories--from Treasure Island to the Circle of Magic to Fullmetal Alchemist--as targeting those who are roughly the age of the protagonists. But there's nothing about The Bartender's Tale that indicates it's for twelve year olds. In fact, I was surprised to learn that the narrator was only twelve. Instead, it seems to be a story of memory and nostalgia, down to Russell narrating about himself as an adult, playing the role of a bartender at the end of the book. Come to think of it, This Tender Land does the same thing. I suppose this is an aspect of coming of age stories for adults rather than those for children--they tell you what happened to the children as adults, often ending them with them in their old age.
i suppose it also focuses on more that adult than many coming of age stories do as well,. Even though the book is narrated from Russell's point of view, I feel like we get a lot of characterization of his father, which may come partially from the hindsight of Russell looking back on his dad now that he's an adult himself.
And speaking of Russell's dad, I really like him as a dad. It's clear he loves his kid and he doesn't always know how to be a dad, but he wants to do right by him. This also stands when he finds out he thinks he has a daughter. I love how he supports Russell's interests as well as how he doesn't his his profession from him, but he's careful about how he lets Russ be involved in his work.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My biggest complaint is about the blurb on the back, which indicates the mysterious sister is kind of the main part of the book, but she doesn't show up until past the halfway mark. It's really just about this one memorable summer Russell spent with his dad, Zoey, and everybody else.
University Book Store is saddened to hear of the passing of Ivan Doig, the critically acclaimed author and a loyal friend and customer to the store, at age 75. His accolades included the prestigious Wallace Stegner Award in 2007, the Western Literature Association’s lifetime Distinguished Achievement award, and he was the recipient of more awards from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association than any other writer. During the past 8 years, he was afflicted with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, but also managed to write four well-received novels—Work Song, The Bartender's Tale, Sweet Thunder, and Last Bus to Wisdom, which is forthcoming from Riverhead Books this August.
“The spaces between stars are where the work of the universe is done.”
