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MWSA Review
In Three Years in Tending: A Memoir, Nicholas D. Butler delivers a deeply resonant and honest description of his struggles with alcoholism, depression and homosexuality. He chronicles his experiences working in the hospitality industry as a bartender navigating the widespread bar closures brought on by the Covid pandemic.
Butler uses his time in the service industry as a lens to explore the fragile nature of livelihood and self-worth. He bridges his professional struggles with deeply personal reflections, connecting his time in hospitality to his upbringing and the unsettling realities of a midlife crisis. He clearly explains his confusion and struggles, and success in dealing with being gay in a military culture that frowned upon the lifestyle and then in a somewhat dysfunctional, though lengthy marriage.
The narrative shines brightest in its vulnerability. Butler does not shy away from the exhaustion, financial desperation, and identity shifts that defined his life. Three Years in Tending serves as an empathetic tribute to hospitality industry workers, and providing readers with an intimate roadmap for overcoming hardship and finding meaning in life's unpredictable second acts.
Review by James Elsener
Author's Synopsis
Nicholas Butler's second memoir is the continuation of his account of working in the service industry as a bartender who struggled to survive the pandemic's massive closure of bars. "Three Years in Tending" seeks to build empathy with readers by connecting memories of how the author (a former Air Force officer) found his way into working in hospitality to his upbringing, sharing the details of a mid-life crisis, and providing an example of how to overcome hardships in life.
Format(s) for review: Paper Only
Review genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Pages/Word count: 245 / 54,586