#ivan doig

What I find particularly interesting about this book is that its target audience seems to be adults, rather than children. Usually, I think of coming of age stories--from Treasure Island to the Circle of Magic to Fullmetal Alchemist--as targeting those who are roughly the age of the protagonists. But there's nothing about The Bartender's Tale that indicates it's for twelve year olds. In fact, I was surprised to learn that the narrator was only twelve. Instead, it seems to be a story of memory and nostalgia, down to Russell narrating about himself as an adult, playing the role of a bartender at the end of the book. Come to think of it, This Tender Land does the same thing. I suppose this is an aspect of coming of age stories for adults rather than those for children--they tell you what happened to the children as adults, often ending them with them in their old age.

i suppose it also focuses on more that adult than many coming of age stories do as well,. Even though the book is narrated from Russell's point of view, I feel like we get a lot of characterization of his father, which may come partially from the hindsight of Russell looking back on his dad now that he's an adult himself.

And speaking of Russell's dad, I really like him as a dad. It's clear he loves his kid and he doesn't always know how to be a dad, but he wants to do right by him. This also stands when he finds out he thinks he has a daughter. I love how he supports Russell's interests as well as how he doesn't his his profession from him, but he's careful about how he lets Russ be involved in his work.