The Bartender's Cure
A Novel
-
-
4.3 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Compelling… [A] sure-bet read-alike for Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter.” --Booklist
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK by BuzzFeed, Goodreads, Electric Lit, New York Post, LitHub, BookRiot, and Library Journal
A fiercely relatable coming-of-age debut novel about an aspiring bartender at the perfect Brooklyn neighborhood bar
Samantha definitely does not want to be a bartender. But after a breakup and breakdown in San Francisco, she decides to defer law school for a year to move to New York, crashing on her best friend’s couch. When she is offered a job at Joe’s Apothecary, a beloved neighborhood bar in Brooklyn, she tells herself it’s only temporary.
As Sam learns more about bartending and gets to know the service industry lifers and loyal regulars at Joe’s, she is increasingly seduced by her new job. She finds acceptance in her tight-knit community and even begins a new relationship. But as the year draws to a close, destructive cycles from her past threaten to consume her again. Sam is increasingly pulled between the life she thought she wanted and the possibility of a different kind of future. How much is she willing to let go of to finally belong?
Filled with cocktail recipes and bartending tips and tricks, this captivating, utterly original debut will quench your thirst.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Straton's lethargic debut follows a recent college grad who unexpectedly finds purpose and community as a bartender. Sam Fisher has deferred her lifelong dream of attending Harvard Law after some mental health setbacks. To make ends meet, she takes a job as a bartender at Joe's Apothecary, a swanky bar in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood that is serious about its cocktail menu. As she falls into the rhythms of bar life and starts dating one of her regulars, she grows increasingly uncertain of her future and must decide if she still wants to become a lawyer or if her bartending gig has become more than a way to pay the bills. Straton begins each chapter with recipes for classic cocktails such as Manhattans, French 75s, and negronis, and the narrative is peppered with asides on bar vocabulary and trivia, including tangents on tipping, cocktail history, and whether it's "whiskey" or "whisky." Straton's descriptions of service industry culture and boozy folklore entertain, but the low stakes make this feel a bit light, while Sam's constant ambivalence about her relationship and attending law school sap the momentum. The result is less than intoxicating.
