Drinking with Men: A Memoir Hardcover – January 24, 2013

Drinking memoirs generally fall into two categories: “Never again” and “Pour me another.” Schaap, who writes the “Drink” column for the New York Times Magazine, has composed one of the latter, an ode to the “great tradition of regularhood” advocating “equal regularhood rights for women.” From her teenage discovery of the bar car on the Metro-North New Haven Line; to her college years at the Pig, in North Bennington, Vermont; to a marriage-ending epiphany at Else’s, in Montreal, Schaap charts her path from adolescence to adulthood, bar by bar, sometimes having a few too many but always finding the sense of community and belonging she clearly craves. Early passages can seem a bit naive, as when she suggests bars’ negative depiction in popular culture (what about Cheers?) or when she just can’t understand what her friends and family have against her new pals from the bar. But, as her remembered self ages, deeper and richer insights emerge. Ultimately, this is as much about growing up in bars as it is growing out of them. --Keir Graff

"Schaap brings a poet's touch to her memoir, which brims with insight and wisdom."
–Jimmy Breslin

“This book will be a classic. There is so much joy in this book! It’s a great, comforting, wonderful, funny, inspiring, moving memoir about community and belief and the immense redemptive powers of alcohol drunk properly.”

—Kate Christensen, author of In the Drink and The Great Man

"There are bar stories and there are coming-of-age stories. And then there is Rosie Schaap's thoughtful and funny chronicle that reminds us of all the drinks, dives, and deep conversations that helped make us who we are. This is a wise, engaging memoir."
—Wendy McClure, author of The Wilder Life and I’m Not the New Me

“Schaap warmly toasts the urge so many of us share to find a spot where everybody knows your name.”
—People

“A witty homage to pubs and bars and the regulars who call them home.”
—O Magazine 

“[Schaap] describes the unusual camaraderie among bar ‘regulars’ with poignant specificity. It’s a cozy, intimate pleasure to go belly-to-bar with her.”
—Entertainment Weekly

"With focused premise and expansive feeling... [and] very smart assessments of a mode of being that’s not given the credit it deserves. 'Drinking With Men' would pair very well this time of year with a well-aged whiskey and a handful of peanuts."
—The Boston Globe

“A wonderfully funny and openhearted book from a generous, charismatic writer… [Schaap is] a born storyteller… There's no substitute for the kind of community you can find in a good tavern. And no American writer can explain it better than Rosie Schaap.”
—NPR.org

“Rosie Schaap’s New York Times column on the pleasures of drinking has always been—like the best bartenders—funny, smart, and slightly bawdy. This memoir is also all those things—and there’s no hangover.”
—W Magazine

“Beautifully rendered.
”—The Daily Beast

“Funny, smart-as-hell, moving.”
—Salon 

“Witty…a vivid study of both Schaap’s life in bars, often as one of the few women regulars, and a gimlet-eyed exploration of modern bar culture.”
— Chicago Tribune

“[Schaap] has a way with words, writing about her experiences in the bars of her life in a heartfelt, honest, and relatable way. I would like to request a drink pairing with each chapter.”
—The Atlantic Wire 

“Phenomenal… Schaap is an expert storyteller.”
—Food & Wine

“Ms. Schaap has a gift for camaraderie—and excellent taste in booze.”
—New York Observer 

“Pour yourself a double and let Schaap’s writing amuse and enchant you.”
—BookPage 

“Schaap is a gifted storyteller.”
—Time Out Chicago

“Witty, compassionate…a meditation on learning how to drink well, wisely, and with eyes wide open…if you want an elegy to good bars and a stiff drink, Schaap has you covered.”
—Full Stop

“Drinking With Men will have you raising a glass to its incomparable author and the great bar-stool stories she tells.”
—Flavorwire.com (Best Nonfiction books of 2013)

“Lively … [Rosie Schaap] is an energetic and warm storyteller, and the book celebrates bar culture at its best.”
—HowAboutWe.com

“A perfect book for the beach, plane or coffee table — and, most especially, for anyone who loves hanging out in bars but can't quite put their finger on why…[a] fun, honest memoir.”
—NPR (Best Books of 2013)

“Beautifully composed…detailed and genuine…the stories just seem to tell themselves.”
—Library Journal (Best Books of 2013)