Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender [Hardcover]

Ty Wenzel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2003

After reading Behind Bars, a no-holds-barred tell-all in the spirit of Kitchen Confidential, you'll never look at your favorite bartender the same way again.

Ty Wenzel offers a raw and clever account of slinging drinks in New York City on the Bowery before and during its renaissance. Wenzel, now thirty-six, has just thrown in the towel after a decade at the swank Marion's Continental Restaurant and Lounge--a gig that was supposed to be a temporary escape after corporate burnout, but instead, like with most bartenders, took over her life.

Honest, clever, and often scathingly funny, this memoir at once offers outrageous tales, the dirty little secrets of the trade, and inspired commentary on bar culture and the human condition. Wenzel's candid stories of life behind the bar covers everything: sex, money, celebrities, the tricks mixers play on you to get you to stay on that stool, how to jumpstart your own bartender fantasy, that all-important tip . . . and how "pink drinks" like the Cosmopolitan are ruining civilization.

Behind Bars is also a riveting narrative of Wenzel's life outside the bar, which is complicated by her Islamic background, her drive to save enough money and get out of "the life," and the ultimate realization that the grueling lifestyle that is driving her crazy is also something she has grown to love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wenzel's pulp-fiction prose can hold its own against Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential....Compulsively readable."
- Elle

"A superb memoir of urban life...sharp-witted and complex....Behind Bars delivers a subtle and mature personal narrative."
- Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Inside Flap

"There are eight million stories in the naked city and bartender Ty Wenzel has heard every one of them. She shares some of the best here in a wild, funny and sometimes horrifying account of life behind the bar. This a wicked shot of truth-served straight up." --Debra Ginsberg, author of Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress

"Having been employed at Marion's during Ty's reign, I can only say I wish I would have paid more attention during my tenure, so I could publish a snappy tell-all. All I'm left with after years of waiting on tables are corns on my feet and a tin full of change." --Amy Sedaris, actress and former Marion's waitress

"In Behind Bars Ty Wenzel tells her story with humor, honesty, and courage, exposing details about her life that many of us would shudder to expose to the cold light of the printed page. Bravo!" --Dale DeGroff, "King Cocktail," former Rainbow Room bartender, and author of The Craft of the Cocktail

"Ty pours out some great tips for bar patrons and great stories about them. I recommend this book to anyone who's ever sat on either side of the bar." --Ray Foley, publisher of Bartender magazine

"New York is changing. I know that's old man to say, but it is. Ty's stories capture a time that will be completely gone soon! Capture it beautifully and honestly. Enjoy them . . . cherish them." --Dito Montiel, author of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (August 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312311028
• ISBN-13: 978-0312311025
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ty Wenzel was the fashion editor for Cosmopolitan and a fashion coordinator for Bloomingdale's before her years as a bartender. She lives in East Hampton, New York, and New York City with her novelist husband, Kurt Wenzel, and their young son.

"There are eight million stories in the naked city and bartender Ty Wenzel has heard every one of them. She shares some of the best here in a wild, funny and sometimes horrifying account of life behind the bar. This a wicked shot of truth-served straight up."
- Debra Ginsberg, author of Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress

"Having been employed at Marion's during Ty's reign, I can only say I wish I would have paid more attention during my tenure, so I could publish a snappy tell-all. All I'm left with after years of waiting on tables are corns on my feet and a tin full of change."
- Amy Sedaris, actress and former Marion's waitress

"In Behind Bars Ty Wenzel tells her story with humor, honesty, and courage, exposing details about her life that many of us would shudder to expose to the cold light of the printed page. Bravo!"
- Dale DeGroff, "King Cocktail," former Rainbow Room bartender, and author of The Craft of the Cocktail

"Ty pours out some great tips for bar patrons and great stories about them. I recommend this book to anyone who's ever sat on either side of the bar."
- Ray Foley, publisher of Bartender magazine

"New York is changing. I know that's old man to say, but it is. Ty's stories capture a time that will be completely gone soon! Capture it beautifully and honestly. Enjoy them . . . cherish them."
- Dito Montiel, author of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book accomplished what I always wanted to, February 14, 2004

By 

Bruce (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender (Hardcover)

I've never written a review for a book I've read on Amazon before, but I felt compelled to do so here. I was given this book for Christmas by two separate people, probably because I'm a bartender myself. Let's face it, a bartender's memoir isn't exactly to be read as the apex of literary accomplishment, so I'm not sure why people can be so aghast at Behind Bars' few flaws. Wenzel has captured exactly what it's like to serve drinks to a vast myriad of people (drunks, suits, etc.), with such an honest verve that I felt as if I were sitting in front of her listening to the anecdotes on a really busy night. Her writing is raw and extremely fun. The Islamic bent from which she comes from was an interesting facet of the mix, too. This book isn't War & Peace, but it is really fun and, for me and many other bartender's I've loaned out to, quite representational. I don't think many of my customers know that I'm using "sex appeal" to keep them coming back for more. In fact, I think they are under the impression that I really am riveted by everything that comes out of their (most of the time) drunken rants. But I'm not. And Wenzel explains this, and why. I think raving drunks won't like this book because it reveals their weakness too much. Wenzel does NOT sugar-coat anything.

Her poignant and sometimes harrowing narrative was very intimate for me, and I wished I'd visited her on my last trip to New York (back when she was still tending bar on the Bowery). We could have commiserated together and laughed at it all. I await her next work eagerly, which I read about on her site.

Overall, not pretentious like some other "insider" books I've read, fun and very revealing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fasten your seat belt!, August 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender (Hardcover)

This book is loads of fun. Both informative and catty, Wenzel dishes up her share of dirt from behind the bar. I've always fallen in love with my bartenders, so it was fun to hear what it's like to be on the other side. Made me glad that I'm a good tipper too... I recommend this book for everyone looking for an enjoyable read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun fun fun, August 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender (Hardcover)

Just finished the book yesterday and really enjoyed it. Never worked in the service industry but I got the feeling that I knew the ins and outs when I was done - and it's not for the faint of heart. It's easy to see why servers of any type could get so sarcastic after many years dealing with drunks and irrational diners. But it's funny too. Lots of insider tid bits, pet-peeves (which I'll keep in mind next time I'm ordering at a bar) and a funny glossary of terms I never knew existed. It's not whiny or apologetic. You can take it or leave it if you're an "orphan" (gotta read it to find out what that means) but I know service industry folks will love this. Definitely a fun summer read. Very entertaining.

Jim