The Tender Bar

The Prologue introduces readers to the town of Manhasset, Long Island, identifying its demographics in the 1970s as predominantly Irish and Italian, with upper-class and working-class residents living in close proximity. Moehringer describes the bar Dickens (later renamed Publicans) as a popular meeting hub for the community, and the most beloved establishment out of the many bars in Manhasset. The author explains that Manhasset had a historical reputation for heavy drinking, noting that it was even featured as such in the novel The Great Gatsby. He introduces readers to the bar owner, Steve, who Moehringer claims had a “fanatic following” in Manhasset (8).

Moehringer explains that because he had an absentee father, the bar was where he formed crucial relationships with male role models who significantly influenced him in his formative years. Moehringer recounts his first memory of seeing the men from the bar; at seven years old, he watched Steve and his Uncle Charlie playing community baseball with other Dickens men. Seeing their close friendship, the author longed to join them and understand their connection and inside jokes. He immediately revered them and, by extension, their meeting place, Dickens.

Moehringer explains that at this age he lived in his grandparents’ Cape Cod home, which, unlike the wealthier neighbors’ homes, was dilapidated. The household was chaotic and overwhelming as it also housed his mother, uncle, aunt, grandparents, and six cousins. The patriarch of the family, Moehringer’s grandfather, was a “misanthrope” and curmudgeon who resented his adult children’s dependence on him (16). However, Moehringer notes, he never turned anyone away.

Moehringer explains that he and his single mother were dependent on his grandparents after his father disappeared and offered no assistance in raising him. The author had no contact with his father but listened to his radio show, which his grandmother referred to as “The Voice,” since she could not bring herself to say his father’s name. Moehringer relates how he anxiously sought out The Voice as a refuge from the chaos and discord of his household and to maintain a connection with a masculine figure.