Cosmopolitan: Bartender's Life and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Kindle Edition
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life
 
 
Start reading Cosmopolitan: Bartender's Life on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life [Paperback]

Toby Cecchini (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

List Price: $12.95
Price: $11.01 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $1.94 (15%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 19 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Monday, January 30? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover --  
Paperback $11.01  
Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook --  
Audible Audio Edition, Abridged $14.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial

Book Description

September 14, 2004

Cosmopolitan is a memoir of the bartending life structured as a day in the life of Passerby, the bar owned and run by Toby Cecchini. It is, as well, a rich study of human nature—of the outlandish behavior of the human animal under the influence of alcohol, of lust, and of the sheer desire to bust loose and party. As the typical day progresses, Cecchini muses over a life spent in the service industry and the fascinating particulars of his chosen profession. He is by turns witty, acute, mordant, and lyrical in dealing with the realities of his profession, shedding plenty of light on the hidden corners of what people do when they go out at night.


Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft $19.49

Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life + The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft


Editorial Reviews

Review

“Marvelous.  Toby Cecchini is no part-time, blender-drink-slinging woo-woo pouring dilettante. He's a professional. A hard, wise, funny, sad and unflinching look at the world from the other side of the bar.  Beautifully written, as fascinating for its backstairs account of hip restaurant/bar/lounge hijinks as it is for its unique perspective on human behavior. New York night life in all its true, hilarious, horrific, poignant and pinheaded glory.”
-Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential

“Toby Cecchini is something of an expert in creating hospitable environments: for drinkers with his bar, and for readers with this book. He writes with a quiet, lucid style about a profession that is generally loud and chaotic, and he makes almost every aspect of his bartending vocation, including, and perhaps especially, the bad behavior of some of his patrons, totally engaging. He has also captured an essence of New York life in the way that Midwesterners are, for some reason, uniquely able to capture it. Finally, though this book’s title is an overt reference to a particular mixed drink, what it embodies and anatomizes so well is an outlook on the world, in this case from behind a bar.”
-Tom Beller, author of Seduction Theory and The Sleepover Artist



From the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Cosmopolitan is a memoir of the bartending life structured as a day in the life of Passerby, the bar owned and run by Toby Cecchini. It is, as well, a rich study of human nature—of the outlandish behavior of the human animal under the influence of alcohol, of lust, and of the sheer desire to bust loose and party. As the typical day progresses, Cecchini muses over a life spent in the service industry and the fascinating particulars of his chosen profession. He is by turns witty, acute, mordant, and lyrical in dealing with the realities of his profession, shedding plenty of light on the hidden corners of what people do when they go out at night.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway (September 14, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767912101
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767912105
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.4 x 5.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Parisian-wannabe pours drinks for those he's too good for, August 24, 2004
By 
buddyhead (Taxachusetts) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life (Paperback)
Toby Cecchini's lavish and loving descriptions of alcohol really make you want to have a drink; in fact, I'm a beer-only guy, and found myself hankering for a martini or Manhattan while I read Cosmopolitan. Not with the author, though, who maintains the effete and disdainful tone of a French snob throughout. There isn't a single instance in this book's 238 pages where a $10,000 word and/or a French turn of phrase wasn't substituted for the $10 version, regardless of the fit. This was as goofy as it was distracting, and I can't imagine it endears the smarmy author to anyone who reads this.

Case in point: "I always marveled at the élan with which he pulled off that simple action; my efforts at duplicating this maneuver always end with me bludgeoning the recalcitrant glacier mercilessly as chips fly helter skelter." Um, call me crazy, but isn't that a mite highfalutin to describe watching someone chip ice? And while describing the staff at a restaurant where he used to work: "Even now, at the remove of more than a decade, it is easy to conjure, but difficult to summarize, the atmosphere of that floor, its peculiar combination of superfluous terror and incestuous, striving kinesis." Pal, the only reason it might be "difficult to summarize" a bunch of the interaction between a bunch of waiters, cooks, and bartenders, is because you're trying too hard. The last time I saw this much use of the word "lovely" was when I brought our daughter to my grandmother's senior center,

It gets worse. There is an obnoxious Europhilic tone throughout Cosmopolitan, as if all Americans are yokels undeserving of the drinks he pours (sorry, "the gustatory libations he decants")- Cecchini fantasizes of his dream bar, which among other things, only accepts Euros; he refuses to serve a Cosmopolitan to a customer who asks for a "Cosmo"; he sizes up customers approaching his bar, and thinks through some gift of human insight he knows everything about them from just their walk or drink order; he describes a wine argument with a friend, during which Cecchini referred to a Pomerol as a Pommard- the friend gloated about it for two years (anyone call for an Ambiguously Gay Duo?). There are many instances when Cecchini describes standing behind the bar and observing his customers from a pompous distance, having a laugh or a shake of his head at the human condition, as if he's so above their depredations because of the two foot wall of oak between them.

On the plus side, this guy clearly loves his craft, and brings enough experience and perspective to the table to keep his audience interested. I wouldn't have thought there were this many aspects to discuss about bartending, and was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of topics: the adulation met by workers at a city hot spot; the difficulties of entering the NYC restaurant business (this book is a cautionary tale against getting in the New York food game); the process of stocking the bar's alcohol in a way to ensure only those crowds you want; the art of being a good listener without getting too involved; crowd control; interesting and unpredictable barflies; and the chemistry necessary between two bartenders working the same shift.

Cacchini almost redeems himself with a couple of uncharacteristically humble stories at the end: the first describes his morbid curiosity and horror at hosting a raunchy bachelor party at his bar, and his struggles to get closer to observe the action, while at the same time maintaining professionalism. The second involves a trip to Europe, stumbling into a family-run bar and getting swept up in a week of unconditional hospitality. These two anecdotes aren't enough, though, to bring this snob back to Earth.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars CRANKY & DROLL, December 22, 2003
By A Customer
Cecchini should have gotten out of the business years before writing this book. Yes, he has a knack for using big words in hopes of bringing this book to a more literary level, but he should have stuck to finding better stories instead. As a regular at two bars in Los Angeles, I have personally seen funnier and more interesting moments than Cecchini. He's so hard-boiled and tired that he barely seems interested in his own anecdotes. I don't mind bitterness, in fact the more the better, but without a sense of humor in telling the story, he doesn't make this a fun read. My fantasies of bartending are shattered forever. Fun as a concept, not so fun (or interesting) to read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not for the girls, February 19, 2004
This book was a huge disappointment for me. I found his macho take on bar culture non-observant, but too critical. Anthony Bourdain wrote a rave about a book that discourages smoking in bars??? The guy is never shown without a Marlboro hanging out of his lips. I found this book pretentious and at times monotonous. The cover is fun, but it is not representational of the work.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
In the town of Eau Claire in northern Wisconsin, where my father lives, there is an old wooden saloon called the Joynt on Water Street, just a short block off the Chippewa River. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
liquor room, other bartenders
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Kin Khao, Sad Disco, New Year's Eve, Booty Bar, Gold Bar, Open Flame Permit, San Francisco, Smirnoff Ice, East River, Ghetto Tech, Upper East Side, Chelsea Market, New Jersey, Ninth Avenue, West Village
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Citations (learn more)


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 
(27)
(20)
(17)
(16)
(15)
(15)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject