Last Call at Elaine's

"An earnest, gruff, celebrity-and-anecdote-rich memoir of the 11 years [McDonald] worked for Ms. Kaufman, and of his life before and after Elaine's as an on-and-off-the-wagon alcoholic. He touchingly conveys both the intoxication he felt at interacting with the clientele he lionized and the despair he has suffered during periods of crippling addiction. [The] power of this book lies not in its style, but in its sincerity, and in its tribute to a world that might have seemed larger than life to people outside the window, but behind the bar just felt like home."--New York Times "Rowdy, eccentric, a rambunctious primer of New York's hustle and bustle and rustle after dark, the book is colorful anecdotes of debaucherous nights, celebrities who fall off the wagon then climb back on, and the legendary characters who've filled this dynamic watering hole. Like when Mick Jagger wanted change for $20 for a tip and the then-bartender said, "Mr. Jagger doesn't need change," and stuck the whole 20 in the waiter's apron."--New YorkPost "A titillating tale of slinging drinks at the famed Upper East Side watering hole-slash-shrine."-Black Book Magazine "What a rich book this is - and you don't have to be a drinker to loveLast Call at Elaine's. You may be weary of redemption stories - but this is different. Yes, there is a falling off the wagon and, ho hum, there is a climbing back on, but that is almost incidental to the larger narrative. The richness is in the writing: detailed, funny and with a certain barroom pungency. Elaine, herself, has been written about dozens of times but never with such insight, such tenderness. Brian McDonald has a sharp eye and an even sharper ear for New York after dark."--Frank McCourt, author ofAngela's Ashes "Elaine' restaurant has always been the classy center of a certain kind of New York City Glamour. This loving portrait of the place and its proprietor shows Elaine to be a courageous and generous character who does her best to conceal her soft-heartedness. Woven together with McDonald's struggle to become a writer and to get clean, this story is as moving and compelling as the stories of the writers who made Elaine's their home away from home."-Susan Cheever, author ofAmerican BloomsburyandMy Name is Bill "Brian McDonald began using his writer's ear on the Underwood that retired with his father from the 41st Detective Squad in the Bronx. The machine had recorded manslaughter and maiming and molesting. Now he was on a computer and into the great glow of Manhattan nights where he tended bar and looked and listened with a writer's ear. He took a famous boss named Elaine and patrons like Frank Sinatra and Woody Allen, and the normal 15 rounds against alcohol, out into the world beyond Manhattan and gives us a big league book of life today."-- Jimmy Breslin, author ofThe Good Rat: A True Story "Last Call at Elaine'sis a grand read. If you need to find out what the famous, the great and the literati do for fun, this is your book. This is a rambunctious story full of self-deprecating humor, addiction, tragedy, outbreak, lies, rowdy nights and laughter. At times, I thought I was reading artfully written and imaginative fiction, but personal knowledge told me otherwise. Sit down, read this book, and once you start, it's unlikely you'll stir until you finish. There will never be a last call at Elaine's."--Malachy McCourt, author ofA Monk Swimming "A voyeur de force on Manhattan's most celebrated watering hole. Bracing as the third shot of Wild Turkey, satisfying as the House Special veal chop (after Elaine switcMcDonald, Brian is the author of 'Last Call at Elaine's', published 2008 under ISBN 9780312347543 and ISBN 0312347545.