Drinking with Men Audiobook

" This is not so much about drinking with men as with finding a good bar which, according to the author, has interesting patrons who care about one another, is not too fancy and, of course, is under the auspices of intelligent and sympathetic bartenders, staff and owners. I understand her attraction to these places completely and even though she is sometimes quite self-involved, I enjoyed her memoir. "

" Rosie Schaap writes in a warm, enthusiastic way that makes for a pleasant read. But I have to say, her lifestyle scared me. She is a seeker and a risk-taker who doesn't seem sufficiently aware that she is either. Every time I turned the page I expected to read, "Hi. My name is Rosie, and I'm an alcoholic." I remain puzzled, but wish her well. "

" Eh. I am not naive, I know that in today's memoirs the truth has been re-purposed for the sake of good storytelling. But the structure is a little clumsy and the details are somewhat glossed over. "

" Drinking with Men is a collection of Schaap's recollections of her favorite drinking holes, beginning as a teenager in New York City and ending, um, in New York, with a notable absence of personal growth in between. Harsh? Maybe. Maybe I'm being especially hard on Schaap because I "get" everything she says about the amazing feeling of fitting in somewhere, somewhere, to quote Cheers, "where everybody knows your name". I've been a girl who loves bars, who enjoyed heated discussions and heart to heart soul dumping over a nice Scotch or pint of ale. I've been "one of the guys" with a lot of the same upsides and downsides that Schaap describes. I learned a lot about people and even more about myself. I made some lifelong friends, some mistakes and missteps, and I MOVED on. I guess that's what I hoped Schaap would do.....and she doesn't. She moves on, to another.....and another....and another bar..where, each time, she builds a new substitute family (a deep need, obviously..she doesn't have much to say about her actual family) spends every night there for months, and then picks up and starts somewhere new. Throughout the whole memoir, she holds down an interesting array of jobs and even marries, but nothing sticks. The individual bars start to sound the same, and I wish she had spent more time showing what sets each, and the characters within, apart. At the end of Drinking with Men, Schaap is bartending, parttime, and starts to make some interesting observations from the other side of the rail...for about two paragraphs, and she's done. YET, when you read her bio on the back, you find out she has plenty going for herself, professionally, as a writer, but nothing really makes it into her memoir that doesn't happen inside the four walls of a bar. Too bad. I think she has more to say.... "

" A fun read about a woman's love of bars and her journey through life. "

" Non-fiction, memoir, travel. Daughter of Dick, sister of Jeremy. Stories about pubs/taverns that became her "local" for a period of time. "

" A very smart book - lots of poet naming but you can still read between the lines and following along. The life lead by a woman in bars - what more is there to say. "

" Gave up about 25-30% in ... unable to relate to the author's perspective, which makes for tough going in a memoir. "

" This book isn't just about drinking and bars, it's about a woman getting to know who she is And how she fits into the world. It's full of self-revelation, laughter, sadness, and most of all, life. I loved it. "

" This book made me feel much better about my own drinking habits! Clever and great story telling, I enjoyed this memoir. "

" Enjoyed this quite a bit. Made me "feel the feels" quite a bit, too. Just read it, it reads fast, it's lovely. Read it in a bar. Made me want to find my own local. I do have one prospect... "

" Started strong, but then, meh. "