Sunny's Nights: Lost and Found at a Bar on the Edge of the World

by Tim Sultan

Imagine that Alice had walked into a bar instead of falling down the rabbit hole. In the tradition of J. R. Moehringer’s The Tender Bar and the classic reportage of Joseph Mitchell, here is an indelible portrait of what is quite possibly the greatest bar in the world—and the mercurial, magnificent man behind it.

The first time he saw Sunny’s Bar, in 1995, Tim Sultan was lost, thirsty for a drink, and intrigued by the single bar sign among the forlorn warehouses lining the Brooklyn waterfront. Inside, he found a dimly lit room crammed with maritime artifacts, a dozen well-seasoned drinkers, and, strangely, a projector playing a classic Martha Graham dance performance. Sultan knew he had stumbled upon someplace special. What he didn’t know was that he had just found his new home.

Soon enough, Sultan has quit his office job to bartend full-time for Sunny Balzano, the bar’s owner. A wild-haired Tony Bennett lookalike with a fondness for quoting Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, Sunny is truly one of a kind. Born next to the saloon that has been in his family for one hundred years, Sunny has over the years partied with Andy Warhol, spent time in India at the feet of a guru, and painted abstract expressionist originals. But his masterpiece is the bar itself, a place where a sublime mix of artists, mobsters, honky-tonk musicians, neighborhood drunks, nuns, longshoremen, and assorted eccentrics rub elbows. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly transforming city, Sunny’s Nights is a loving and singular portrait of the dream experience we’re all searching for every time we walk into a bar, and an enchanting memoir of an unlikely and abiding friendship.

Praise for Sunny’s Nights

“Fantastic . . . [Sultan takes] material that might seem familiar and [mixes] a perfect, insightful full-bodied, multitextured and delicious. . . . Simply beautiful.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Sultan’s love of Red Hook shines through, and it’s hard not to be swept along on the ebb and flow of his emotions. . . . Sultan’s book is, among other things, a meditation on the fragility of the moment and the passage of time. . . . Wistful, funny and biting, Sunny’s Nights rewards you with its evocation of a certain place in time and, as Sultan calls him, ‘the most original man I have ever met.’” — Newsday

“An affectionate portrait of the idiosyncratic Sunny’s Bar.” — USA Today

“Sultan finds Sunny . . . a real character, a poet, a cinephile, a philosopher, bluegrass maestro and (Rheingold) beer server.” — New York Post (“Required Reading”)

“Captivating . . . a classic story about a local bar.” — The Buffalo News

“An enchanting memoir, a profound meditation on place and a beautiful story of an unlikely and abiding friendship.” — Brooklyn Daily Eagle

“[A] polished, affecting look at remarkable barkeep Sunny Balzano . . . In elegant prose, Sultan deploys laconic humor, an instinct for telling details, a taste for eccentricity, and above all, clear-eyed compassion for our all-too-human failings.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Beautifully wrought . . . an indelible portrait of an unusual man and a nearly forgotten part of NYC.” — Booklist

“More than an elegy for a bar and a neighborhood—it’s also a vivid and loving portrait of the larger-than-life eccentric who gave the bar its name and its spirit.” —Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, New York, History, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2016

Reviews

[Una Tiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice walk into the past and the life of a unique character who owns a bar near the docks. About half way through the feeling shifted from the comfort of the 1950s to something ugly before returning to the same comforting tone. While this may be realistic, it killed my buzz.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read about the author's love of a bar and its owner he stumbled upon in Red Hook, NYC. Run down, by the water front, Red Hook has been forgotten. Sunny is an eccentric owner of a bar that only stays open one night a week. The author ends up bartending and absorbing the stories of Sunny and the many characters who are regulars at the bar. Beginning in 1995 until Hurricane Sandy, the area and the author change and time marches on for all. Photos were great in the book, Sunny looked as I imagined. If you love NYC, this is a must read. The bar was in Sunny's family for 100 years and continues to serve customers today.

Thank you Random House for this Advanced Reader Copy and the above is my honest review.

[Mary K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a lot to say - I got bored and didn’t finish the book

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ve probably all had moments or met people who have left lasting changes or impressions in our lives. One night when he was 27 and driving aimlessly, this happened to Tim Sultan. In a dark, desolate neighborhood of New York called Red Hook, he entered a place just called ‘Bar’. The bar was owned and run by Sunny Balzano and had been in Sunny’s family for a hundred years and was as eccentric as its owner. Sunny is an actor, an artist, a story teller and a lover of life. The bar became Tim’s ‘home’ on Friday nights (for years it was only open on Friday nights).
Sunny’s Nights is a tribute to an unconventional life of an original man and to the bar itself where over the decades a mix of mobsters, artists , musicians, longshoremen and assorted eccentrics had found a place they could belong and to the deep friendship the author developed with Sunny Balzano.
I received an advance reader's edition through the Goodread's Firstreads program.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of Sunny's Nights as part of the Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway.

Trying to classify Sunny's Nights is an interesting endeavor- it is definitely a biography of Sunny Balzano, Red Hook bar owner and resident philosopher, but it is also an autobiographical account of the author's own adult "coming of age" story. In addition it's a fascinating historical account of 20th century life in a hard scrabble Brooklyn waterfront community. It may sound like there is a lot going on in this book but Tim Sultan pulls it off -he successfully manages to bring all these different elements together into not only a cohesive but fascinating read. I enjoyed the many different elements of this book, from Sunny's rather unique approach to life, to Tim's finding out what is really important to him, but most of all I enjoyed the glimpse of what life was like in the 'original' Red Hook community before gentrification stepped in.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man walks into a bar...seriously, bear with me, you haven't heard this one before.
Sometime in the mid-1990's, Tim Sultan was driving home late at night and made a wrong turn. He ended up on a desolate and isolated street. Seeing a lit sign that simply said "BAR", he ventured into the place, where he found a group of grizzled drinkers, a vintage Martha Graham dance performance being projected on a screen, and Sunny, the eccentric proprietor.
Thus begins this story of a bar, a friendship, a changing time and place.
A fantastic read, Sunny's Nights is a biography of two very different men, a history of a changing neighborhood, and the tale of a bar where everybody's a regular.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an unusual, quirky book that I’ve been reading over the past month in 10 to 15 minute increments and that might be the best way to read this book. It’s part memoir/part history and the story of the most unusual bar and barkeeper I’ve ever read about.
Tim Sultan found Sunny’s bar late at night when he was lost in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn. When he entered, he found everyone at the bar watching a video of a Martha Graham dance performance. It wasn’t exactly what Tim expected from a dive bar with blue-collar clientele. The bar is only open on Friday nights, all drinks are $3 (there isn’t a large selection), there is no sign, no phone number and none of the legal licenses required to run a bar. Entertainment might be a silent film or one of the many musicians or singers who were Sunny’s regulars might perform.
Of course, the big draw to the bar is Sunny himself. He is the perfect barkeeper – able to keep the peace, tell entertaining tales, provide a sympathetic ear and know when to keep his mouth shut. Tim Sultan falls under his spell and starts working on Friday nights as a barkeeper at Sunny’s.
I enjoyed reading about Sunny, Tim and all the patrons of the bar and hope Tim will be writing more books in the future.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming memoir that reads like fiction. Immediately felt a part of the sunny’s world.

[Julie Witte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this advance copy through GoodReads First Reads. The author has a real gift for cutting to the heart of the character (Sunny) That allows the reader to feel as if they were right there in the dim light of the Bar, on the edge of their seat listening to another fantastic/mostly true story. A great book, I had a hard time setting it down. Mr. Sultan has written one of my favorite books so far this year, and for that I am happy and looking forward to the next.

[Jae Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways, thanks!

"Sunny's Nights" follows the story of a man who kind of stumbles upon a bar in an area of Brooklyn called Red Hook. Sunny's bar is near the Brooklyn docks and is owned by a gentleman named Sunny Balzano. Sunny is an interesting and colorful character who has made many friends while running his bar.

The Red Hook area has a bad reputation as a rough place, but that doesn't stop Tim from regularly going there on Friday nights (the only night Sunny opens the bar) and eventually even tending bar for his new friend.

This book was a great read, as the characters are really unique and so interesting, especially Sunny himself. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes to read true-to-life characters and well described situations, some funny and some heart warming.

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Cheers" for the gutter ready...

Brooklyn carpetbaggers trickle steady...

born and bred in the County of Kings...

tire irons are what my crew swings...

unless you're street talking Brooklynese...

take your ass back to Wisconsin cheese...

a five-dollar bar, boozy-been-there in Red Hook...

isn't worth a busted-out dust jacket and book.

Chris Roberts, Brooklyn is Mine and Mine

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime. Rebecca Barry said it best: "It’s moments like this that barflies (and writers, and artists) live for — where everything stops and all the barriers and trouble that the mind makes for itself fall away and what’s left is this sweet, hopeful understanding of our broken, glorious kind." http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/boo...

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sultan first discovered Sunny’s about two decades before I did. Through his writing I was able to experience the parts of this most special dive that I otherwise would’ve never known. I felt every single emotion Sultan describes as Red Hook changes and the bar moves further away from secrecy. If you love New York and bars with regulars that feel like family, if you want to fall in love with an unforgettable man you’ve never met… read this book.

[David Geracioti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written, very insightful blend of biography, “barography,” and memoir. I think anyone would appreciate it, but knowing Sunny’s and Red Hook makes this book much more special. I wish I could give this 4 and 1/2 stars because I absolutely loved it up except the last chapter or two when the author lost sight of the subject. He seemed more concerned with his own place in the story, or rather, losing his grip on the story.

[Jim Breslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this creative nonfiction book about Sunny and his dive bar in Red Hook. Tim Sultan captures the fun and grittiness of the life of an outsider and this drinking establishment for all types of creative folks and the bar's eventual decline as technology and gentrification emerge. A fun read.

[Danny Cerullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read about a, formerly, unique place in New York and one of its more unique citizens. It's smart and sentimental without being overly so on either. Personally, I think it would probably make a better movie then it did a book, but it's still very worthwhile.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eclectic bar; quirky owner; bored, overpaid, and over-educated chronicler. Well done and interesting, but ultimately pointless.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through a GoodReads giveaway courtesy of Random House. I'd actually been wanting to read it since it came out, so it was serendipitous that I got it in my first giveaway win.

I was excited to read this book as soon as I heard about it because I lived in Red Hook for several years. I'd still be living there today if my apartment hadn't flooded in Sandy. The spring after we survived Sandy, my landlord didn't renew my lease, so he could turn my apartment into an AirBnB. I looked for another place in the neighborhood, but the only affordable apartments were all basement or ground-floor spaces. I wasn't going to risk getting washed out in the next hurricane, so sadly, I had to move out of the neighborhood.

This book mostly takes place in the Red Hook that existed before I lived there, and it was fascinating to read about the history of my beloved old neighborhood, even as recent as the changes that happened right before I got there, like Fairway and Ikea moving in. But some things haven't changed--familiar streets and buildings, piers and warehouses, and old-school restaurants that are still operating.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Sunny, but I definitely spent many weekend evenings at the bar with friends, enjoying the live music in the back room and the warmth that pervaded the whole space. Having only a vague idea of who Sunny the man was just from the legend he is in the neighborhood, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him through the author's stories about their time together.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone familiar with Red Hook or Brooklyn, who wants to get a historical perspective on the place. But I would also recommend it to anyone interested in history or biography in general. Sunny led a long and incredibly wide-ranging life. (If you've recently enjoyed the Netflix documentary "Wild, Wild Country," read this book and prepare to be amazed.) Even without my specific interest in the neighborhood, I found myself thoroughly wrapped up in the stories of Sunny's experiences and his perspective on life.

My only criticism is that I found the style of the narrative a bit dense for the subject matter. It took me some time to get into the flow of the book. The intent of the book seems to be a light biography, but it gets into the weeds of literary weightiness a fair amount. There are near constant allusions, of which I was only able to understand about half. Some might want to read this with Wikipedia open on their phones or otherwise be comfortable with glossing over some of the references.

Overall, this book is definitely worth your time and attention if you want to learn a bit about Brooklyn history from the perspective of those who lived there and about the legendary man behind Sunny's Bar.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable read about a unique character who attracts other unique characters. Imagine a bar in a forgotten corner of Red Hook, Brooklyn, and that bar owner only opens it on Fridays, keeps it 'illegally legal' by accepting donations instead of payment for drinks, and when you enter for the first time there's a group of weathered men watching a classic of modern dance via a projector. This is the sort of place that Sunny's was.

The book reads like a yarn told atop a bar stool, each chapter another episode in the life of either the bar, its owner, or Tim Sultan, the author who happened to wander in and watch ballet on that fateful night. What unravels is a tale of friendship told with great prose (Tim Sultan used to work for The Paris Review) all wrapped up in the history of this once mob-ruled, fascinating slice of New York.

Sultan writes in retrospect: "I know now that my arrival at Sunny's coincided with the tail end of another period, the final years before the real arrival of the Information Age. The Internet was not yet in wide usage in the mid-nineties and the impulse of the layman to reveal, review, document, or comment upon every existing establishment (and, seemingly, upon every place and subject on earth) did not yet exist. It was still possible to have a secret bar, a secluded neighborhood, a private getaway."

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did (and I was so excited when I won it in a Goodreads Giveaway -- thanks, Random House). But, alas, while it started out as a very engaging book about a certain kind of bar that works a certain kind of magic on proprietor and patrons alike, it turned into something more akin to watching somebody else's home movies of a beloved "character" of an uncle you never knew when he was alive holding forth on this, that and the other in a somewhat drunken and lecherous manner. While you are sober and sitting in an uncomfortable chair. In short, it was not "an indelible portrait of what is quite possibly the greatest bar in the world." It was an extremely well-written eulogy for its owner, combined with a history lesson about a certain part of Brooklyn. That said, more power to Tim Sultan for writing a book about something and somebody important to him. All I do is read books.

[r · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Overhearing the new Sunny's versus the old Sunny's debate one night, Charlie, with Guinness froth on his Airedale mustache, weighed in by saying, 'A woman in a picket line in Baltimore once expressed something so philosophically brilliant to me. She said, 'Eat shit if you must, but never call it ice cream.' You don't do a brainwashing of yourself. Confronted with conflict, you compromise but you don't deceive yourself that you're doing something else. You make compromises but you don't sell out. And as far as I'm concerned, Sunny might have made a few changes but he hasn't sold out.'"

The writing style can be a bit much at times, but I know it comes from a place of love so I let it slide. :)

That bar is legend though, so if you've ever been and loved it like I have then you owe it to yourself to read this one.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I stood beneath one of two faded brown awnings. In between was a simple wooden door containing three peephole windows.”

Never had Tim visited a bar with no name. He’d actually been to a bar named, A Bar With No Name, but this one literally had none. Rarer still was that it only opened on the seventh day and all drinks sold were $3. Sunny ran the bar, and his father and uncle before him. The cast of characters, antics and tales were the drink of choice. Because beyond that, Sunny wasn’t much of a barman. “Remembering and misremembering events in his life with equal facility.”
~ warm and witty. At the end, I felt I knew Sunny personally. Very nicely written...

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why I thought this was fiction when I picked it up. It's memoir — storytelling, to be more accurate — and the stories are only mildly interesting. I almost quit on this book three or four times, and I probably only finished reading it because, having invested so much time in it, I thought for sure there was going to be something redeeming in the end. Not so.
What I will say for author Tim Sultan is that he has an amazing way of drawing unique pictures with words. However, once I convinced myself this was memoir or extra-long-form reporting, I started questioning all the lengthy direct quotes, and wondering how much of a reporter's license was involved in the writing.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Tim Sultan's love letter to a man, Sunny Balzano and his Brooklyn watering hole, Sunny's Bar. It is a true story of stumbling upon a place in the blue-collar section of Brooklyn called Red Hook run by a charismatic man who seems larger than life, and a bar that seems custom-made for its diverse customers. Music, philosophical conversations, joie de vivre , respect and acceptance combine to create a magical place - even if only one night a week. Isn't this what many people dream of? It's the reason "Cheers" was such a popular show. If this is your dream, by all means, read it.

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather self-indulgent book where the author bemoans the "loss" of a bar he discovers that is run by an interesting character. I felt the whole thing smacked of a man who was actually missing wild, unrestrictive, no consequences youth. But to glorify the lost good-old days in the form of a man who was an alcoholic, chain smoking, narcissistic, deadbeat dad appalls me. I also found the book to be very repetitive and actually boring.

[Brent M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky book about a bar in the nearly abandon Red Hook area of Brooklyn. It is only open one night a week, draws an eclectic clientele and is run by Sunny. Our protagonist stumbles across the bar by making a wrong turn one Friday night. He ends up integrated into the bar. Our tale takes us from then through the adventures and misadventures through the years at Sunny’s. All the way to the revival of Red Hook and the closing the bar. Truly a diversion read.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and learned some about New York City which is a plus.
It very much made me want to befriend someone like Sunny. At least it made me want to be open to what could lie in less traveled corners.... It also made me long for less traveled corners. In the world of google maps and instagram, few stones feel unturned. This captures a time when that was not the case, and it made me a little nostalgic and perhaps a little jealous.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to describe this book is a biography of a bar and the bar's owner. The fact that both are extremely interesting makes this a really terrific read. The author stumbled upon what appears to be a dive bar but discovers so much more. A tribute to the bar, the multi-faceted owner, the Red Hook that was and ultimately friendship, Sunny's Nights is really entertaining and touching.

[Kathy Heare Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bar with a fascinating history tied up in Sunny. A place that included everything from the common to the elite and famous.

I won an advanced reading copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am donating it to a senior assisted living facility.

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Delightful Treasure!
Tim Sultan's masterfully crafted book pays homage to a beloved, clever, rough-around-the-edges character from a time and place some of us can relate to. He uses rich, vivid language throughout a series of well-written, compelling stories and anecdotes to encapsulate his friend, Sunny. This book is part memoir, part historical documentary, and 100% worth the read.