Autoren-Bilder

Jon Michaud

Autor von When Tito Loved Clara

2 Werke 117 Mitglieder 6 Rezensionen Lieblingsautor von 1 Lesern

Werke von Jon Michaud

Getagged

Wissenswertes

Geschlecht
male

Mitglieder

Rezensionen

When I first decided to found this book, I assumed it was something along the lines of The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. It didn’t take long for me to realize “Last Call at Coogan’s” was much more than just another nonfiction book about a neighborhood bar. It takes the reader through more than three decades of history about Washington Heights in New York City where Coogan's is located and the changes in the area ranging from gang crime, crack drug use bordering on epidemic, and finishing with a social phenomenon almost as pernicious as those: gentrification. When the bar was on the ropes because its evil landlord, New York Presbyterian Hospital, raised their rent from $7,000 a month to $40,000 a month, the area came to the bar’s aid, pressuring the hospital, void of any conscience and hard-pressed to explain its not for profit status, to raise the rent to a much lower amount allowing them to survive another three years. Finally, the evil that finally put the last nail in Coogan’s coffin, was the same evil that did many businesses (and people) in: covid 19. The book is a tribute to the people who both ran Coogan’s and those who patronized the bar. All of them were family, the Coogan’s family. I really enjoyed Jon Michaud’s book and highly recommend it.… (mehr)
 
Gekennzeichnet
FormerEnglishTeacher | 1 weitere Rezension | Feb 10, 2024 |
Last Call at Coogan's: The Life and Death of a Neighborhood Bar by Jon Michaud is a very highly recommended history. This neighborhood bar opened in New York City’s Washington Heights one block from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in 1985 and closed during the pandemic in the spring of 2020. For 35 years the beloved local landmark often called Uptown City Hall was a vital part of the neighborhood.

Librarian Michaud wrote an article in the New Yorker about Coogan's which was the impetus for this account, which is the very interesting, easy to read story about the history of Coogan's. From 1985 to 2020 the bar and neighborhood faced a plethora of serious issues and changes which are all recounted here. The wide variety of stories included cover the owners, some of the staff, and many regulars, along with the social history of the years Coogan's was open and the community it created.

This is an excellent, well-researched book that captures and brings to life the history of a place and the people who were a large part of the story. Last Call at Coogan's would especially appeal to anyone who knows the area or ever visited or frequented Coogan's over the years. A wide variety of readers will appreciate the interesting background stories of the history and the people, but the greater appeal is going to be for those who know the area or Coogan's.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/05/last-call-at-coogans.html
… (mehr)
½
 
Gekennzeichnet
SheTreadsSoftly | 1 weitere Rezension | May 31, 2023 |
Lots of twists as we follow several sad characters through their trials and tribulations.
 
Gekennzeichnet
kimpiddington | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Oct 29, 2012 |
This debut novel is one of those rare works where the cinematic version would likely be better than the book. The author's plot and character development were, for the most part, well done, but here's my criticism: too wordy! Is that possible for a novel? The answer is "yes, yes it is". Depicting Dominican-to-New York City cultural assimilation, family drama, unrequited love, and married librarians, the writing at times seems forced with the reader subjected to "Dublin Core", “epaulets”, “anthropomorphize” and other prosaic expressions. I lost steam about 2/3rds of the way through but soldiered on because I at least cared about the characters.… (mehr)
½
 
Gekennzeichnet
lukespapa | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Jan 13, 2012 |

Statistikseite

Werke
2
Mitglieder
117
Beliebtheit
#168,597
Bewertung
½ 3.7
Rezensionen
6
ISBNs
5
Favoriten
1

Diagramme & Grafiken