false 5291478 1 <b>A classic tale of addiction and its consequences as well as a brilliant, often comic twist on the novel, set in, at, and behind the bar</b> In a famous but declining Hollywood bar works a bartender. Morbidly amused by the decadent decay of his surroundings, he watches the patrons fall into their nightly oblivion, making notes for his novel. In the hope of uncovering their secrets and motives, he establishes tentative friendships with the cast of variously pathological regulars. But as his tenure at the bar continues, he begins to serve himself more often than his customers, and the moments he lives outside the bar become more and more painful: he loses his wife, his way, himself. Trapped by his habits and his loneliness, he realizes he will not survive if he doesn't break free of his life and the bar. And so he hatches a terrible, necessary plan of escape and his only chance at redemption. <i>Ablutions</i> brings readers behind the bar, below rock bottom, and beyond the everyday take on storytelling. 5358903 18 2 2009 Ablutions: Notes for a Novel total:81|5:24|4:29|3:16|2:8|1:4| 81 304 169 32 5 1 false false Mon Dec 15 20:37:27 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 23:42:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Mar 09 16:47:01 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 10:18:13 -0700 2009 3 1 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 20:29:22 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 21:06:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Feb 14 14:10:52 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 19:23:18 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 14:10:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 13:25:50 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 15:34:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:27:58 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:41:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu May 21 06:53:25 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 06:54:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 09:54:51 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 15:20:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 06:46:04 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 00:10:44 -0700 2009 offer the beleaguered narrator cheap resolution through the conventional routes-- or the quite strange routes the narrator seeks. We keep reading not because we await the narrator's redemption but becaus...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Mar 19 11:13:34 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 07:22:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jun 15 09:04:44 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 09:12:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 09:58:26 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 10:02:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 08 14:24:17 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 21:09:15 -0700 2009
Only complaint is that the whole "notes for a novel" conceit doesn't really do much. Seems like almost a weird apol...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 09 07:00:45 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 07:05:53 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Thu Apr 02 14:24:17 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 18:13:21 -0700 2009 It was a story about a bartender taking notes to write a novel about the drunks/alcoholics that patronize the bar. He is also an alcoholic, and he loses his wife and the life he knew. It was disgusting at some points, not a story about addictions, but just their ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 14:30:10 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 14:38:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 09:59:58 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 13:43:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Mar 13 19:18:48 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 18:19:26 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 11:39:04 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 15:20:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 13 21:39:11 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 21:42:09 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5291478