Do you love telling stories at your favorite bar? On the Morning Media Menu today, author and New York Times Magazine “Drink” columnist Rosie Schaap talked about her new memoir, Drinking With Men.
Press play below to listen on SoundCloud. The book shows how bars have helped shape her personal and creative life. She also shared tips for pitching This American Life.
Here’s an excerpt: “What I love about bars is that they are places where people talk to one another and tell people stories. There is a kind of openness and exchange of stories in bars. Everyone is relaxed. You go to a bar not to get dressed up, not to have a really fancy night out on the town. You go to the bar to be relaxed and to be yourself. I think that really facilitates great storytelling among regulars. That’s really what we do at bars, we tell each other our stories.”
She concluded: “But you can tell (whether you are writing a story or telling your friends in the bar a story), whether the story is working or not. Sometimes the story you tell in a is going to fall flat. I think in a way, bars are a great place to hone your storytelling skills. Is this making my fellow bar-goers interested in hearing the rest of the story? Am I going into too much detail? Am I not giving enough detail? Bars are great laboratories for storytelling.”