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Cocktail
Unemployed, broke, and alone, journeyman bartender Brian Flanagan offers cynical observations on human foibles and frailties and records the desperate quest for happiness of one colorful group of characters
- GenresFiction
337 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
28 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
About the author
Heywood Gould
30 books22 followersBorn in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, Heywood Gould got his start as a reporter for the New York Post. Later he financed years of rejection with the usual colorful jobs, cabdriver, mortician's assistant, industrial floor waxer, bartender and screenwriter. He has written twelve books and nine screenplays, among them "Lading Lady," "Fort Apache, the Bronx," "Boys From Brazil," "Cocktail," "Rolling Thunder," "Double Bang," "One Dead Debutante," and "Glitterburn." His new novel is "The Serial Killer's Daughter." "
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2010
When I picked up "Cocktail" I really did not know what to expect. In recent years, mostly because a buddy and I have watched it a few times and laughed at the lines and the smattering of "Coughlin's Laws" I noticed the book and script were written by Heywood Gould and I thought I would look it up on Amazon.
Books are pretty cheap these days online and I figured for the penny they were asking, what the hey.
First, the movie and book are similar but not at all, at the same time. The movie was obviously Tom Cruise-ized, the story was doctored with love elements because that is what many filmgoers want to see and there was a feelgood ending. The book had none of these.
While, of course, I pictured the actors from the movie in my mind's eye as I read the book, I was entertained for entirely different reasons. The book has many of the details that appear in the movie, but at different places, with different consequences and different morals. Brian Flanagan is older, allegedly wiser and keeps himself alive with a healthy balance of cocktails, drugs and dreams. Doug Coughlin's lines spice up the book as long as he lasts. And the whole underlying theme is that the world is just varying levels of misery filled with varying levels of thieves; some are great at it like Flanagan and justify it because it seems to just be the way of the world.
Also interesting is the book doubles as a how-to-make-just-about-any-drink recipe book, it is a roadmap of New York and a very blunt and brutal commentary on the people in it.
"Cocktail" is not the upbeat, campy 80's movie we have come to know and laugh at over the years. It is the dizzying, drunken tale of Brian Flanagan - a lush who loved and loathed being a bartender. He just couldn't figure out which emotion he felt more.
Books are pretty cheap these days online and I figured for the penny they were asking, what the hey.
First, the movie and book are similar but not at all, at the same time. The movie was obviously Tom Cruise-ized, the story was doctored with love elements because that is what many filmgoers want to see and there was a feelgood ending. The book had none of these.
While, of course, I pictured the actors from the movie in my mind's eye as I read the book, I was entertained for entirely different reasons. The book has many of the details that appear in the movie, but at different places, with different consequences and different morals. Brian Flanagan is older, allegedly wiser and keeps himself alive with a healthy balance of cocktails, drugs and dreams. Doug Coughlin's lines spice up the book as long as he lasts. And the whole underlying theme is that the world is just varying levels of misery filled with varying levels of thieves; some are great at it like Flanagan and justify it because it seems to just be the way of the world.
Also interesting is the book doubles as a how-to-make-just-about-any-drink recipe book, it is a roadmap of New York and a very blunt and brutal commentary on the people in it.
"Cocktail" is not the upbeat, campy 80's movie we have come to know and laugh at over the years. It is the dizzying, drunken tale of Brian Flanagan - a lush who loved and loathed being a bartender. He just couldn't figure out which emotion he felt more.
October 16, 2016
Yes, the movie with Tom Cruise. No, NOTHING like the movie with Tom Cruise. At all. Thank God. This is a gritty, grimy, down-and-out drunk of a book. No romance, no feels, no hugging, no learning. The hero isn't a hero and never pretends to be. He's irredeemable, unlikable and yet he's honest about his ways (always sleeps with his boxers under the pillow). Grab your drinks and take a tour of NYC nightlife and drinking culture, both on the stools and behind the bar. No love on the rocks. Straight up with a twist.
July 12, 2022
Coughlin’s Law: Never judge a book by its cover. That’s exactly what you’re expected to do.
Or, in this case, don’t judge the book based on the film. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tom Cruise’s foray into the ‘80s bar scene. In fact I often cite it as one of the most unfairly panned films ever made. It’s frankly delightful in that very ‘80s way of airbrushed lives and excessive optimism amid a weary, cynical world. But that is not this book.
Heywood Gould’s source material has about as much in common with the oft maligned Cruise flick, as a Long Island iced tea does with a Harvey Wallbanger. While they’re both vodka based, the iced tea is blended potently with gin, rum, tequila, triple sec and more to pack a punch. While the Wallbanger dowses its hard hitting base with over-sugared juices to hide the true flavour.
If you’re wondering, the book is definitely the iced tea.
It is stark. Coarse. Brutal. Even depressing at times. Brian Flanagan’s journey goes from misery to melancholy to mania. We see him scrap around New York City, ducking and diving to avoid women, disgruntled husbands, former employees and more.
He is frank from the outset about his genuine consideration of suicide. But just when you think it will happen, a glimmer of gold catches his eye and keeps him moving forward.
Flanagan is a really complicated central character. Narrated in the first person, we have no choice but to take his word as gospel. But he is so brutally honest at times with people - after years of disappointment and mounting cynicism - that he becomes irrevocably trustworthy.
But that doesn’t make him likeable. In fact, the deeper you get into this tale of bar fights and booze, the more you dislike him.
And yet… you still hope that he’ll redeem himself. That he will deliver one monumental act of selflessness that makes the rest bearable. I’ll leave you to read it and find out if that happens and what it is, though!
The supporting characters are arguably more likeable. Those we know from the movie are, like Brian, a shadowy, mirror image of what Hollywood gave us. But they are funny. They are selfless at times. They even make Brian a better man just with their proximity to him on occasion. You could say that if he’s the hard alcohol in the cocktail, they’re the tonics and mixers that bring it together as something enjoyable. Addictive even.
The exception is Doug Coughlin. While all we really know of him is what Brian elects to tell us, it’s clear that he has set Brian on this path of self destruction. If you’re talking heroes and villains, Coughlin has a shout at the latter.
Did I enjoy the book? In short, yes. The first half is a little heavy. The style and tone take a while to catch on to. The print is small and tight on the page (of my edition, anyway). It’s not a forgiving read. But cross that 50% threshold and you will start to fly. It all clicks into place with the introduction of a few specific characters who go on to have a major bearing on the end of the story. Before that point, it all feels a bit aimless. But that might be the point: to make us feel and empathise with Brian and his journey.
If I could have given it an extra half star, I certainly would. But four stars would be a tad generous.
If you’re okay with the melancholy, give it a go. I won’t say it’s a delight; but I doubt you’ll forget it either!
Or, in this case, don’t judge the book based on the film. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tom Cruise’s foray into the ‘80s bar scene. In fact I often cite it as one of the most unfairly panned films ever made. It’s frankly delightful in that very ‘80s way of airbrushed lives and excessive optimism amid a weary, cynical world. But that is not this book.
Heywood Gould’s source material has about as much in common with the oft maligned Cruise flick, as a Long Island iced tea does with a Harvey Wallbanger. While they’re both vodka based, the iced tea is blended potently with gin, rum, tequila, triple sec and more to pack a punch. While the Wallbanger dowses its hard hitting base with over-sugared juices to hide the true flavour.
If you’re wondering, the book is definitely the iced tea.
It is stark. Coarse. Brutal. Even depressing at times. Brian Flanagan’s journey goes from misery to melancholy to mania. We see him scrap around New York City, ducking and diving to avoid women, disgruntled husbands, former employees and more.
He is frank from the outset about his genuine consideration of suicide. But just when you think it will happen, a glimmer of gold catches his eye and keeps him moving forward.
Flanagan is a really complicated central character. Narrated in the first person, we have no choice but to take his word as gospel. But he is so brutally honest at times with people - after years of disappointment and mounting cynicism - that he becomes irrevocably trustworthy.
But that doesn’t make him likeable. In fact, the deeper you get into this tale of bar fights and booze, the more you dislike him.
And yet… you still hope that he’ll redeem himself. That he will deliver one monumental act of selflessness that makes the rest bearable. I’ll leave you to read it and find out if that happens and what it is, though!
The supporting characters are arguably more likeable. Those we know from the movie are, like Brian, a shadowy, mirror image of what Hollywood gave us. But they are funny. They are selfless at times. They even make Brian a better man just with their proximity to him on occasion. You could say that if he’s the hard alcohol in the cocktail, they’re the tonics and mixers that bring it together as something enjoyable. Addictive even.
The exception is Doug Coughlin. While all we really know of him is what Brian elects to tell us, it’s clear that he has set Brian on this path of self destruction. If you’re talking heroes and villains, Coughlin has a shout at the latter.
Did I enjoy the book? In short, yes. The first half is a little heavy. The style and tone take a while to catch on to. The print is small and tight on the page (of my edition, anyway). It’s not a forgiving read. But cross that 50% threshold and you will start to fly. It all clicks into place with the introduction of a few specific characters who go on to have a major bearing on the end of the story. Before that point, it all feels a bit aimless. But that might be the point: to make us feel and empathise with Brian and his journey.
If I could have given it an extra half star, I certainly would. But four stars would be a tad generous.
If you’re okay with the melancholy, give it a go. I won’t say it’s a delight; but I doubt you’ll forget it either!
March 15, 2021
I can separate movies and books well enough, so my review is not based on the fact that this book differs so completely from the movie. For those who are basing their reading of this book on the movie, don’t; someone liked the character of Coughlin and wrote a screenplay for him, and that’s about where it stops. Neither Coughlin nor his laws are major players in the book, and Flannigan is an entirely different character. In fact most of the story is non-essential to the story, and with no character development, it was really a non-story about some bartender’s meandering through life determined to marry rich as a way of life, and by some happenstance ending up doing so.
Neither the characters nor the writing appealed to me. The dialogue was strange, and I failed to grasp the way or reason it escalated as every other conversation does. Maybe the 80’s was just an entirely different stage with an entirely different kind of grown up, where everyone is coked up, looking for a fight, or a female molested by her uncle. Was this really all there was back then? But even if it was, the stage isn’t very well set for this by the author.
Past the middle of the book I found myself skipping several pages that would describe (for the umpteenth time) the despondency of the average person in the bar, how bar fights worked, or how perfectly he made cocktails. It just got old and tired and the character of Flannigan never develops any depth, never learns anything, yet remains a likeable asshole (for other characters in the book) who eventually gets what he desires.
There is theme of being circular that rises towards the last half of the story, which isn’t fully developed and only clumsily grabbed as a last reason for the book’s existence, but which would have added some value to the story I think, but overall the book was not one that I would recommend to others, and wouldn’t have left a great gap in my life had I not read it. The only reason I think anyone comes to this book is because of the movie, and not because it is recommendable otherwise.
Neither the characters nor the writing appealed to me. The dialogue was strange, and I failed to grasp the way or reason it escalated as every other conversation does. Maybe the 80’s was just an entirely different stage with an entirely different kind of grown up, where everyone is coked up, looking for a fight, or a female molested by her uncle. Was this really all there was back then? But even if it was, the stage isn’t very well set for this by the author.
Past the middle of the book I found myself skipping several pages that would describe (for the umpteenth time) the despondency of the average person in the bar, how bar fights worked, or how perfectly he made cocktails. It just got old and tired and the character of Flannigan never develops any depth, never learns anything, yet remains a likeable asshole (for other characters in the book) who eventually gets what he desires.
There is theme of being circular that rises towards the last half of the story, which isn’t fully developed and only clumsily grabbed as a last reason for the book’s existence, but which would have added some value to the story I think, but overall the book was not one that I would recommend to others, and wouldn’t have left a great gap in my life had I not read it. The only reason I think anyone comes to this book is because of the movie, and not because it is recommendable otherwise.
August 16, 2022
Completely different to the movie. I watched the film and wondered if there was a novel and sure enough, there was. So naturally I was intrigued as to what the contrast would be. Goodreads informed me of the size of the gulf and I jumped right in.
And although it was good, I dropped it in favour of other reads for months.
And then I went back, carried on without having lost anything from all that time ignoring it, and it ended quite well.
It's not a knockout. There's a reason things were changed to make the film. The novel is sometimes trying too hard to be gritty and hard-hitting.
It really does read like it was written by a barman. So there's an authentic seeming charm to it.
Major change without spoiling it:
The narrator isn't trying business school, he's in a creative writing class.
That's a big change to the character and makes so much more sense as to why there's a slam poetry scene in the film despite him showing no interest in literature.
All round, a good pulp read you're best off reading in your Kerouac phase (late teens, v.early twenties)
And although it was good, I dropped it in favour of other reads for months.
And then I went back, carried on without having lost anything from all that time ignoring it, and it ended quite well.
It's not a knockout. There's a reason things were changed to make the film. The novel is sometimes trying too hard to be gritty and hard-hitting.
It really does read like it was written by a barman. So there's an authentic seeming charm to it.
Major change without spoiling it:
The narrator isn't trying business school, he's in a creative writing class.
That's a big change to the character and makes so much more sense as to why there's a slam poetry scene in the film despite him showing no interest in literature.
All round, a good pulp read you're best off reading in your Kerouac phase (late teens, v.early twenties)
June 27, 2021
I'm a bartender and have been wanting to read this book for a while. It was first published almost forty years ago, yet it still rings pretty true to life behind the pine. I really enjoyed the book and will probably make it one of those books I read every couple of years.
I don't think I've ever seen the Tom Cruise film that was (sort of) based on the book, but I'll probably hunt that down and watch it.
I don't think I've ever seen the Tom Cruise film that was (sort of) based on the book, but I'll probably hunt that down and watch it.
September 26, 2018
Densely, intelligently, hilariously written-- reminiscent the effortless fluent humor of McGuane or Pynchon. Gould adapted his own book for screen, apparently a painful process, which may seem to a viewer to be of much duller material. However, with enough focus (and roughly 4 dozen screenings), the intelligence shines in the film as well.
February 19, 2021
Well what a surprise.
The film is a cult classic and whilst there are some loose similarities between book and film. They really are loose.
Brian’s character is very different in the book, he’s arrogant, troubled and a bit of rogue, borderline unlikeable, yet you can’t help but love him.
A solid read, but not what I expected (in a positive way)
The film is a cult classic and whilst there are some loose similarities between book and film. They really are loose.
Brian’s character is very different in the book, he’s arrogant, troubled and a bit of rogue, borderline unlikeable, yet you can’t help but love him.
A solid read, but not what I expected (in a positive way)
December 14, 2017
The book was well written however I kept finding myself losing interest in the story. I really disliked the main character, Brian. The book version of Brian is awful to everyone and has very little redeeming characteristics.
June 23, 2023
One of my favorite books of all time. Read it years before the movie came out. It is much better and a little different than the movie.
I had the honor to meet Heywood at one of his book release parties. Great guy, great author.
I had the honor to meet Heywood at one of his book release parties. Great guy, great author.
March 8, 2018
Awesome
A clever novel and way better than that movie. An accurate portrayal of bartending both back in the day and now
A clever novel and way better than that movie. An accurate portrayal of bartending both back in the day and now
November 9, 2021
It’s obnoxious and petty and ballsy and fantastic. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
April 9, 2024
My 18 yr old self says "unrecognisable from the movie".
February 26, 2017
Different and better than the movie
The screenplay the author wrote for the movie are the first and last few chapters of the book. In between are the funny and accurate experiences that make up the life of a professional bartender. There is a thread of a story through the book but mostly every few chapters are a different "act" in Flannigan's life. An enjoyable read.
The screenplay the author wrote for the movie are the first and last few chapters of the book. In between are the funny and accurate experiences that make up the life of a professional bartender. There is a thread of a story through the book but mostly every few chapters are a different "act" in Flannigan's life. An enjoyable read.
August 1, 2008
i learned that the movie wanted the name and not much else
September 18, 2009
Different from the movie, thank God. Lotsa good stuff about bar culture in the dark ages, sprinkled liberally with amusing rants.
August 4, 2015
Turgid.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews