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Last Night at the Old Town Ale House
Adventures and tales from Chicago's premiere dive bar, as told by Bruce Elliott.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 9, 2016
Entertaining. The same guy you ay have seen on one of Anthony Bourdain's show, only in print. It seems to be a collection of his blog posts.
May 31, 2021
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun."
I was led to this book from Bourdain's Chicago episode from Parts Unknown. I've been watching episodes from the series the past year and the Chicago episode struck me as a bit different, because given the size of the city he mostly focused on one bar- the Old Town Ale House. I live in Chicago and have been to the bar before, where my friend and Chicago native told me the bar's legendary status as a Chicago staple and pointed out tons of paintings covering the wall, many of famous people in lewd or compromising positions. When I found out Bourdain encouraged bar owner and painter of said paintings Bruce Elliott to compile a book of his bar stories, I decided it was worth checking out.
Elliott has a very sardonic humor which is evident from the beginning and I appreciated. Even so, at first it felt like random stories of bar regulars, which while vaguely interesting and funny isn't exactly absorbing. I became more invested as the book went on though. It focused on a few rag tag regulars of author Bruce's (self dubbed Geriatric Genius) bar. I definitely felt fondly towards them as the book went on, and understood why Bourdain focused so much on the bar. Something I've noticed about his show is that he likes to seek out the soul of a city and what makes it unique, avoiding the force of sameness that might come along to many major cities with hipster culture and soul draining high rises that price out native dwellers. Elliott's friends range from a homeless crack addict to artists to politicians, having once golfed with Obama (he was an ass man). You get the impression he sees the Chicago he grew up with as something worth preserving in print and as something that won't be regained. He talks about how as his friends and bar regulars die, there will be no one to replace them as they are such unique individuals. Having finished the book, I am touched by Bruce's relationship with and love for his friends, the bar, and the city itself.
I was led to this book from Bourdain's Chicago episode from Parts Unknown. I've been watching episodes from the series the past year and the Chicago episode struck me as a bit different, because given the size of the city he mostly focused on one bar- the Old Town Ale House. I live in Chicago and have been to the bar before, where my friend and Chicago native told me the bar's legendary status as a Chicago staple and pointed out tons of paintings covering the wall, many of famous people in lewd or compromising positions. When I found out Bourdain encouraged bar owner and painter of said paintings Bruce Elliott to compile a book of his bar stories, I decided it was worth checking out.
Elliott has a very sardonic humor which is evident from the beginning and I appreciated. Even so, at first it felt like random stories of bar regulars, which while vaguely interesting and funny isn't exactly absorbing. I became more invested as the book went on though. It focused on a few rag tag regulars of author Bruce's (self dubbed Geriatric Genius) bar. I definitely felt fondly towards them as the book went on, and understood why Bourdain focused so much on the bar. Something I've noticed about his show is that he likes to seek out the soul of a city and what makes it unique, avoiding the force of sameness that might come along to many major cities with hipster culture and soul draining high rises that price out native dwellers. Elliott's friends range from a homeless crack addict to artists to politicians, having once golfed with Obama (he was an ass man). You get the impression he sees the Chicago he grew up with as something worth preserving in print and as something that won't be regained. He talks about how as his friends and bar regulars die, there will be no one to replace them as they are such unique individuals. Having finished the book, I am touched by Bruce's relationship with and love for his friends, the bar, and the city itself.
January 1, 2020
There are some good stories in this book and they make for some interesting light reading. However, the author tries throughout the entire length of the book to make himself out to be an academic robin hood who is only trying to right the wrongs of the rest of the world. Instead, it becomes clear that he is nothing more than a typical panhandler who is content to live off of the success of others. All that aside, the author is a gifted storyteller and has definitely lived a life worth writing about.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews