J. R. Moehringer Volgorde van de boeken (chronologisch)

Nel 1997, a J.R. Moehringer fu affidato un reportage su Bob Satterfield, un peso massimo che combatté tra il 1945 e il 1957 e di cui non si sapeva nulla. Era scomparso dalla circolazione. Moehringer era in cerca di una buona storia e seguì le tracce di un uomo che viveva per strada e che giurava di essere Bob Satterfield. Si faceva chiamare il «Campione» e affermava di essere Bob, «il miglior knockout di tutti i tempi». Ma era davvero il «Campione»? Moehringer esamina il cuore del suo personaggio e racconta la storia di un uomo che diventa, mentre lo osserva come un entomologo, il suo Moby Dick personale: una persona che gli rivela, dietro la sua misteriosa identità, qualcosa del suo passato, qualcosa che ha a che fare con il coraggio, con lo sport e con il costante desiderio di un uomo che cerca suo padre.

Een meeslepende schelmenroman, gebaseerd op het leven van de legendarische bankrover Willie SuttonDe jonge bankmedewerker Willie Sutton is hartstochtelijk verliefd op Bess. Maar als Amerika in de jaren twintig wordt getroffen door de Grote Depressie en Willie zijn baan kwijtraakt, ziet hij zijn kansen op een huwelijk slinken. Aangemoedigd door zijn grote liefde kraakt Willie zijn eerste kluis en de geliefden slaan op de vlucht. Een heel nieuwe carrière in het bankwezen gloort aan de horizon.

In a place that inspired Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby, young J. R. Moehringer lives with his single mother and mercurial grandfather in a cramped home with a rather-too-colorful cast of strident aunts, down-on-their-luck uncles, and their various offspring. It is 1970s Manhasset, Long Island, and J.R. is lonely and adrift. Desperate to escape, J.R.'s mother takes him on long drives, where his dreams are fueled by the sight of the deep, plush lawns and dazzling, gated mansions that served as Fitzgerald's East Egg. But it is J.R.'s introduction to the local pub and its vibrant constellation of characters that would have the greatest effect on him. A panoply of discordant human notes, by turns raucous, witty, vulgar, and wise, these men -- who never quite grew up themselves -- became, for the forlorn young J.R., a veritable symphony of human succor and safety. As J.R. becomes a man, however, he realizes that the bar doesn't grant wishes as much as fill needs in a place where accepting the inevitability of failure is a defense against future disappointment. A keenly heartfelt memoir by a writer who has been deemed "the best memoirist of his kind since Mary Karr," The Tender Bar is filled with insight into the most fundamental human longings. Before J.R. can grasp such insight though, he is forced to face the truth -- about others and, most important, about himself. (Holiday 2005 Selection)