TOUGH GUYS BOOK CLUB

The Tough Guys Book Club

A MUST READ

“Who the hell is reading, you know, picking up a book and learning new sh*t, something that’s considered the opposite to toughness? I can assure you there is nothing tough about knowing less than the next guy. That’s why ignorance is considered a weakness”. – Shay Leighton

SHAY LEIGHTON IS A COMMUNITY ORGANISER THAT FOUNDED THE TOUGH GUY BOOK CLUB IN 2012. IT’S A MEN’S BOOK CLUB ORGANISATION THAT FOCUSES ON ENCOURAGING READING, BUILDING COMRADERY, FIGHTING ISOLATION, AND IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH. AFTER WORKING, POURING A DRINK OR DRINKING THEM FOR 20 YEARS IN SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST NOTORIOUS BARS HE’S SEEN THE BEST AND WORST OF WHAT AUSTRALIAN MEN CAN BE AND KNOWS THAT MORE THAN SOMETIMES, SOMEONE TO TALK TO IS WHAT PEOPLE REALLY NEED. WITH A GROWING NETWORK OF BOOK CLUBS IN AUSTRALIA, THE US AND RECENTLY THE UK, TOUGH GUY BOOK CLUB HAS BECOME A NOTICEABLE AND DISTINCTIVE ADDITION TO MANY PUBS. HIS ONGOING GOAL IS TO PUT “REAL CONVERSATIONS BACK IN THE PUB WHERE THEY BELONG”.

HOW DID THE TOUGH GUY BOOK CLUB COME ABOUT?

I think my time in the bar industry created it. If you sling drinks long enough sooner or later, something gives out. Whether this is your knees, or your hands, or your mental health, for me, it was the mental health. So about eight years ago, I was going through a rough patch. In a short space of time, I lost some friends, my business collapsed, and I went through a breakup. I wasn’t taking care of myself, and it was taking its toll. You know how it starts, drinking a little more than usual, hitting the after-work joints, even when it’s not a work night and it always seems to be time for shots. All those classic things that in another job would be warning signs, but here they go unnoticed or unchallenged. We as an industry have always been good at talking about how we’re a community but rarely good at acting like it when it comes to the health and well-being of ourselves or each other, myself included. Thankfully I had a more engaged friend than most, local whiskey and The Exchange Ambassador, Tom Scott, who had just returned home after pouring drinks in Paris and he could notice the change and noticed I was in a bad way. When your conversations are only about sometimes bartending the question, ‘Are you okay’?, can seem out of place but it can be a lifesaver. Because let’s be honest, I wasn’t.

From there, I realised to change my situation there needed to be something more to my week than after-work drinks, bartender chat, and hangovers. And if I needed that change, probably so could some other bartenders.

So, I needed to come up with something we could do away from it all. I’ve always been a person who runs things and organises events, and I first thought maybe I’d organise a chess club, but that was met with eye rolls, so we got a book club. Never been to one but met up in a pub in Collingwood and things took off from there. Now there are close to 50 Chapters across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

BUT WHY A BOOK CLUB?

Firstly, I needed to find something we could do working our weird hours, and reading is great for that. It doesn’t take anyone else to do it. You can read while on public transport to your shift and when you get home. Next up discussing good books gets you thinking and talking about other topics outside the general conversations that happen behind the bar.

I’VE HEARD THAT YOUR BOOK CLUB HAS SOME RULES. TELL US ABOUT THEM.

Yeah our club has a bunch of rules, the first one is “Don’t talk about work”. Ever realised you hadn’t had a decent conversation in a long time, I bet some of you have. Most full-time bartenders spend a lot of their time hanging out with other bartenders that only have work in common. How do we get them talking about something besides work, what’s the best Bourbon or who’s dating the floor staff? Well, we just outright ban them from doing it. This means you’ve got to expand your conversation away from the usual chat. The “Don’t talk about work” rule helps men in the club break out of that mode. Sometimes it trips up new members, they don’t know exactly how to introduce themselves without mentioning work, but after a while, they get the hang of it.

Rule number two is the “100% don’t be a f**khead”. Number two is pretty self-explanatory. We’re trying to make a space where guys can meet, have a beer and talk about books. Sometimes we’re going to talk about some heavy stuff from the books, you know we’re not reading Harry Potter, and the “Don’t be a f**khead” rule is helpful. There’s a load of other ones, but that’s the two big hitters.

SINCE LAUNCHING TGBC IN 2012 YOU’VE EXPANDED ACROSS AUSTRALIA, THE US AND UK. WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S TAKEN OFF?

It’s a pretty good hobby you know, read more, drink some beers, meet some new folks, talk about interesting things. Like I know I started this interview pretty seriously, but mostly I think we’ve grown because it’s a good way to spend some down time. Better than just drinking your arse off in the same joint every night, that’s for sure. But why are so many people joining our club specifically? Probably because we like to keep things pretty simple. One of the things I think makes this such a great book club is that, when we started, I didn’t know how to run a “good” book club. In fact, I’d never even Googled what you’re meant to do at one so this one’s a little different. For example, we really don’t care if you’ve finished reading the book or not. We’re not your boss; this isn’t meant to be a second job, read as much or as little of the book each month as you like, what’s important is that the guys make the time and show up. Honestly, a book club is as good an excuse as any to meet up in the pub on a regular basis. It usually seems book clubs meet at someone’s house or the library, but that sounds pretty boring, and just because we’re trying to get away from the bartender talk, I still wanted it to be something I’d actually go to.

I also think that guys, especially guys in the industry, are starting to realise that they’ve got some problems, and I think those problems are broadly similar across the world. My entire life I’ve been told that I’m meant to be “tough”, but I honestly can’t explain to you what that means. And we’re pretty bad at this whole thing, the guys who work behind bars, there is lots of “harden up” or “just deal with it…” culture on display, it’s probably why our suicide rate is through the roof for our industry and our gender. I’m no expert, but I reckon at least talking about any issues has got to be a step in the right direction.

WHO JOINS THE TOUGH GUY BOOK CLUB?

All sorts of guys. At first, it was mostly bartenders because that’s who started it, and we still have piles of them, but these days it’s all sorts. We’ve got a diverse group these days; ages are from around 19 to 81 at last count, and the ‘not talking about work’ rule means that people come along to the TGBC are on a pretty even playing field. No one’s a bartender getting lectured to by a lawyer, they’re both just guys in a pub enjoying a beer and a chat.

We do see one thing in common with most of our guys, a lot of them say they used to read more when they were younger but haven’t read much in the last few years. Reading being something they want to do more of or get back to is an obvious one, but it’s more than that. A lot of men that join a club chapter are new in town, or have just had a kid, or are looking for a way to expand their circle, all that kind of life change stuff. Also, you can see some pretty solid holes in how guys are looking after themselves, you know, suicide rates are going through the roof, men are killing their partners and each other at extraordinary rates. Then there are things like loneliness, which can have a big impact on people. So, having a club to get you down the pub to debate some of the things wrong with the world seems to matter to people.

“I wasn’t taking care of myself, and it was taking its toll. You know how it starts, drinking a little more than usual, hitting the after-work joints, even when it’s not a work night and it always seems to be time for shots”.

WHAT KIND OF VENUES DO YOU HOLD TOUGH GUY BOOK CLUB IN?

That’s a good question that’s hard to answer. Our Chapters are at some really diverse venues much like the guys at those Chapters. Some of them are in city mainstay pubs like the Shakespeare Hotel in Surry Hills, some of them are in a little hole-in-the-wall joint like Bar Josephine. It’s got to do with what the local Chapter is like. If they are all 30-year-old flat cap wearing craft beer guys well, then there is no point in meeting at the local RSL. I’ve got a list of all our joints on the site, and I can’t see much to tie them together.

FOR A GUY LOOKING TO JOIN THE BOOK CLUB WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT FROM THE FIRST MEET?

Normally, they’d rock up to a pub; then they have to do one of the weirdest things you can probably do at your local pub, walk up to a big group of guys and ask if they are a book club. If they got the right table then our guys are pretty welcoming, they can expect chairs to be moved and jugs to be offered. Once everyone is settled in, the men around the table introduce themselves, without mentioning anything to do with work and give a little insight into their lives.

We have some questions prepared in advance to keep the conversation rolling along, and there are some breaks to buy beers. At the close of the night, the book for the next month is announced, and then everyone heads off home, or back to the bar.

OTHER THAN DISCUSSING GREAT (OR BAD) READS, WHAT ARE OTHER TOPICS OF DISCUSSION?

Every month, there are a few standard questions: “Is the main character a tough guy? Is there anyone good in this book?” Lots of that keeps digging into that idea about what is tough. Then the rest of our conversations are based on things from the book, which is not too hard because if you’ve ever read “Last Exit to Brooklyn” by Hubert Selby Jr you know, there are things to talk about. Most of the time, all our conversations around a book lead to debates about what’s good and bad in the world. That’s what pubs are for right, having a couple of drinks and solving the world’s problems?

WHAT KIND OF BOOKS DO YOU READ?

We read all kinds of books - old stories, new stories, and a pile of the stuff that you should have read by now but never got around to. All the chapters of the club read the same thing, and there’s usually a bit of a theme going. Some of the stuff that has stuck out recently is ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad’ by Jennifer Egan, which is all about a character worried if they are wasting time, or have they missed their chance. ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’ by James Baldwin, which is about hypocrisy and fatherhood in 1930s Harlem; also ‘Hell’s Angels’ by Hunter S. Thompson, the classic account of outlaw motorcycle gangs where a bunch of misfits banded together to ride bikes, break rules, and call b*llshit on the American dream and ‘Trainspotting’ by Irvine Walsh, because it’s f**king excellent.

Also, every year we read something by Ernest Hemingway, because he’s this macho icon of the twentieth century but he’s also a real horrible piece of work to some people. His harddrinking tough-guy image helped him sell a million copies of his books, but he also grappled with his demons, and in the end, killed himself. We read Hemingway not because he was great. We read him because he’s interesting. If anyone’s interested, there’s a list of our past reads on our website.

WHAT’S THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE BOOK CLUB?

Pretty simple objectives really, get guys out of the house, get them reading, have them talk about anything other than work. A lot of bar crew need to get some better hobbies to look after themselves, TGBC is somewhere they can start.

HOW CAN PEOPLE GET INVOLVED?

Best place to start would be to head to the site Toughguybookclub.com or on Facebook.