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Two Women Walk into a Bar
Cheryl Strayed, the bestselling author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things , finds humor and connection in a poignant short memoir about love, family secrets, and reconciliation. Twenty-one years after Cheryl Strayed set off on the Pacific Crest Trail to heal from the death of her beloved mother, Cheryl’s mother-in-law, Joan, is given weeks to live. As she and her husband help see Joan through her final days, Cheryl reckons with their complicated relationship, determined to connect with a woman who both showed her love and (sometimes hilariously) held her at a distance. Cheryl reflects on their two decades together as she comes to a deeper understanding of the secrets and sorrows in Joan’s complicated past. At Joan’s bedside, it’s time to contemplate the challenges they’ve faced, to accept their differences, and to find some healing in goodbye.
1 pages, Audible Audio
Published January 1, 2024
4,991 people are currently reading
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About the author
Cheryl Strayed
37books13.3kfollowersCheryl Strayed is the author of four books: Tiny Beautiful Things, Torch, Brave Enough, and the #1 New York Times bestseller, Wild. She's also the author of the popular Dear Sugar Letters, currently on Substack and the host of two hit podcasts--Sugar Calling and Dear Sugars. You can find links to her events and answers to FAQ on her web site:
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,305 reviews
January 16, 2024
A touching short memoir about the author’s relationship with her mother in law Joan.
Joan and Cheryl had nothing in common - complete opposites. As the years pass, they simply tolerate each other. Eventually, Joan is placed in an assisted living facility, together with hospice care. That’s when the true meaning of their relationship is revealed. A lovely memoir.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for an ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *
Joan and Cheryl had nothing in common - complete opposites. As the years pass, they simply tolerate each other. Eventually, Joan is placed in an assisted living facility, together with hospice care. That’s when the true meaning of their relationship is revealed. A lovely memoir.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for an ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *
January 3, 2024
This is a short glimpse into family ties, and the relationship between a mother and her daughter-in-law (the author). It was a sweet portrayal of their interactions, and made me think about my own family ties and what makes someone feel like family.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc
December 22, 2023
A touching family story!
This was an Amazon Prime’s First Reads pick for December 2023. I picked this book because I loved “Tiny Beautiful Things� by Strayed, and also because this was a short story (and I’m way behind on my ŷ challenge this year 😬). However, I’m more than happy with this pick!
In this short story, we learn about Cheryl Strayed’s mother-in-law, Joan. Cheryl and Joan didn’t have a very close relationship with each other, only because Joan seemed distant through the years. However, when Joan is moved into an assisted living facility and placed under hospice care because she only has a short time left to live, we learn about Joan’s past and her upbringing.
Even though this was a short story, Strayed packed each page with emotion and I was invested from the first page until the last. I highly recommend reading this short story. It’s a very quick read, and well worth it.
This was an Amazon Prime’s First Reads pick for December 2023. I picked this book because I loved “Tiny Beautiful Things� by Strayed, and also because this was a short story (and I’m way behind on my ŷ challenge this year 😬). However, I’m more than happy with this pick!
In this short story, we learn about Cheryl Strayed’s mother-in-law, Joan. Cheryl and Joan didn’t have a very close relationship with each other, only because Joan seemed distant through the years. However, when Joan is moved into an assisted living facility and placed under hospice care because she only has a short time left to live, we learn about Joan’s past and her upbringing.
Even though this was a short story, Strayed packed each page with emotion and I was invested from the first page until the last. I highly recommend reading this short story. It’s a very quick read, and well worth it.
December 29, 2023
Such a lovely short story/memoir about Strayed's relationship with her husband's mother.
December 9, 2023
December 2023 Amazon Prime First Read
This is a short story of Cheryl’s reflection on her relationship with Joan, her mother in law as she enters the final stage of life. It’s honest and astutely observed and makes you reflect on your own relationships. At just 30 pages it packs a lot in - so cleverly written.
This is a short story of Cheryl’s reflection on her relationship with Joan, her mother in law as she enters the final stage of life. It’s honest and astutely observed and makes you reflect on your own relationships. At just 30 pages it packs a lot in - so cleverly written.
January 6, 2024
5/5
Nuostabi trumpa autobiografinė istorija. Apie mamas ir dukras, mamas ir sūnus, anytas ir marčias. Jautriai, šviesiai, su humoru papasakota, į keliasdešimt puslapių sutalpinta visa santykių amplitudė - amžiaus skirtumo sukeltos problemos, kritika ir aštrūs kampai, kurie per ilgus metus apsigludina, susitaikymas su mirties neišvengiamumu ir didelė meilė. Labai patiko. Wild - viena geriausių mano skaitytų knygų ir nuostabus filmas, skaitysiu Strayed ir daugiau ❤️
Nuostabi trumpa autobiografinė istorija. Apie mamas ir dukras, mamas ir sūnus, anytas ir marčias. Jautriai, šviesiai, su humoru papasakota, į keliasdešimt puslapių sutalpinta visa santykių amplitudė - amžiaus skirtumo sukeltos problemos, kritika ir aštrūs kampai, kurie per ilgus metus apsigludina, susitaikymas su mirties neišvengiamumu ir didelė meilė. Labai patiko. Wild - viena geriausių mano skaitytų knygų ir nuostabus filmas, skaitysiu Strayed ir daugiau ❤️
April 2, 2025
4 Stars for Two Women Walk Into a Bar (audiobook) by Cheryl Strayed.
The author’s mother in-law is given weeks to live so Cheryl and her husband try and come to terms with how her mother in-law has treated her. The relationship was sometimes loving but often it was cold and distant. But they took those final days to try and understand as they were saying goodbye.
The author’s mother in-law is given weeks to live so Cheryl and her husband try and come to terms with how her mother in-law has treated her. The relationship was sometimes loving but often it was cold and distant. But they took those final days to try and understand as they were saying goodbye.
January 11, 2024
Two Women Walk Into A Bar is a short piece by American author, Cheryl Strayed. Waiting tables in a French restaurant at twenty-seven years old, to pay bills while writing her first novel, Cheryl Strayed is waiting to meet Joan, her boyfriend Brian’s mother, who has done the same job: she’s hoping they’ll connect, but she doesn’t make the best impression.
Fast forward twenty years, and eighty-five-year-old Joan, already living in a residential community, has been told her COPD is end-stage and she’ll have to go into high-level care, something to which she is very resistant. Cheryl and Brian manage to talk her around.
Joan preferred to evade “any discussion of what she called “depressing things,� so Cheryl found that “in her presence, I stepped into a force field that quelled my every impulse to dig and say and reveal.� They meet a death doula who helps them understand how things will go.
“Over the previous two decades, we’d come to love each other, but it was a particular, conditional sort of love, one based on circumstance and courtesy rather than connection and compatibility� but Cheryl decides that “In whatever time she had left, I would love her differently, better than I had. Like a daughter would.�
Joan had always been critical of Cheryl, and disappointed in Brian’s career: “Intellectually, I knew her criticisms of my body said more about her than they did about me; I knew they reflected the wider cultural values we’d both been steeped in all our lives that equated thinness with female beauty and, indeed, value. But they cut me to the core anyway� After all, she was married to her only child, the mother of her only grandchildren. But “by the time we sat together sorting through every scrap of clothing she owned, my hurt had long since settled into hilarity and stoicism and the slightest skitter of sympathy� At times blackly funny, but also, incredibly moving.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.
Fast forward twenty years, and eighty-five-year-old Joan, already living in a residential community, has been told her COPD is end-stage and she’ll have to go into high-level care, something to which she is very resistant. Cheryl and Brian manage to talk her around.
Joan preferred to evade “any discussion of what she called “depressing things,� so Cheryl found that “in her presence, I stepped into a force field that quelled my every impulse to dig and say and reveal.� They meet a death doula who helps them understand how things will go.
“Over the previous two decades, we’d come to love each other, but it was a particular, conditional sort of love, one based on circumstance and courtesy rather than connection and compatibility� but Cheryl decides that “In whatever time she had left, I would love her differently, better than I had. Like a daughter would.�
Joan had always been critical of Cheryl, and disappointed in Brian’s career: “Intellectually, I knew her criticisms of my body said more about her than they did about me; I knew they reflected the wider cultural values we’d both been steeped in all our lives that equated thinness with female beauty and, indeed, value. But they cut me to the core anyway� After all, she was married to her only child, the mother of her only grandchildren. But “by the time we sat together sorting through every scrap of clothing she owned, my hurt had long since settled into hilarity and stoicism and the slightest skitter of sympathy� At times blackly funny, but also, incredibly moving.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.
December 15, 2023
Short story by Cheryl Strayed. The story is told by the daughter in law as her mother in law is slowly dying. Well written but without much emotion coming across for this reader. The daughter in law appears to be always looking for a way to connect with her husband's mother. The mother comes across as disinterested and with secrets that she has long buried. The daughter in law seems to think that digging into this hidden past holds the connection she seeks. I had trouble understanding why she thought and pursued this. Interesting read but lacked convincing depth for me.
January 16, 2025
Sad story but good ending
This book was a short read. It tells about a woman who gets to meet her mother in law for first time while working as a waitress. Joan and her both love her son. She the waitress married him and the mom wanted what was best for him. It tells about the bond of daughter in law with mom in law and her getting ready to die except death, they became closer at the end and her 2 grandchildren got to see her spend time with her before she passed. She knew and told her daughter in law that she the daughter in law made her son happy and that was all that mattered. She said thankyou in the end. Easy to read nicely written.
This book was a short read. It tells about a woman who gets to meet her mother in law for first time while working as a waitress. Joan and her both love her son. She the waitress married him and the mom wanted what was best for him. It tells about the bond of daughter in law with mom in law and her getting ready to die except death, they became closer at the end and her 2 grandchildren got to see her spend time with her before she passed. She knew and told her daughter in law that she the daughter in law made her son happy and that was all that mattered. She said thankyou in the end. Easy to read nicely written.
January 22, 2024
I met her in a bar, my mother -in-law, though she wasn’t my mother-in-law yet. I was twenty-seven and waiting tables in the lounge section of a fancy French restaurant, where she happened to be going for a drink with her girlfriends before they went to a Neil Diamond show. My boyfriend, Brian, had told me to expect her, so I spent the first hour of my shift feeling terribly expectant, my heart lurching with anxiety and anticipation every time another customer walked in.
is a short account of Cheryl Strayed’s challenging relationship with her mother-in-law; brought into focus when Cheryl and her husband, Brian, were informed that his mom had only weeks to live and would need to move into the assisted-living section of her seniors� complex. Because I had read Strayed before (and particularly ), I didn’t need more information than what is in here in order to understand how Strayed’s family background might affect her relationship with the prickly Joan; this felt like a continuing conversation with an old acquaintance. As this is the story of Joan’s end-of-life experience � and the feelings that it stirred up in her daughter-in-law � there is a universality to this narrative that doesn’t require one to have read Strayed before, but taken all together, I found this very affecting. A worthwhile, if short, read. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
Over the previous two decades, we’d come to love each other, but it was a particular, conditional sort of love, one based on circumstance and courtesy rather than connection and compatibility. Brian was the fulcrum on which our relationship rested, uncomfortable and unsteady as a playground seesaw. We both loved him, and so we were determined to love each other, a resolve that deepened when Brian and I had children � a girl and a boy who were ten and twelve by the time Joan was dying.
Between Joan informing her daughter-in-law that there is no greater love than that between a mother and son (perhaps especially so with an only child), and Strayed not being able to take up her mother-in-law’s invitation to start calling her “Mom� (so soon after Strayed had tragically lost her own mother), there were plenty of factors that created distance between the pair. Strayed recalls several instances in which Joan had hurt her feelings over the years, admits that Joan would probably have been happier with “a different sort� of daughter-in-law, but in the end, as Strayed sat at her dying mother-in-law’s bedside, they arrived at a sort of understanding:
It had been more than twenty years since she’d walked into that bar and I’d picked her last. She’d been alive in my life for nearly as long as my mother had. She was my family, my ancestor, no matter our distance or difficulties or disappointments, the truth of that finally crackling between us.
It’s a (too common) shame when it takes this kind of circumstance for a frosty relationship to melt, and books like this serve as a good reminder that time is running down for us all. As ever, Strayed writes in a relatable and engaging voice and I am pleased to have read this account.
January 22, 2024
I sit here now struggling with what I want to say about this book. I discovered this short story from my GR friend, Maureen (🙏Maureen). After reading Maureen’s review and the book’s summary, I knew going in that this was probably going to be a tough read for me. I suspected that it was probably going to hit close to home. It did and the memories struck hard and deep. Thank goodness it was only 31pgs because I couldn’t have read more than that. Enough said.
January 8, 2024
I love the title of this short story. It's short, but it packs a punch as it deals with end of life moral decisions. Strayed addressed her relationship with her mother-in-law with tenderness and understanding, which at times was tenuous and conflict was avoided in more than one instance when holding her tongue showed great restraint! Again, understanding and tenderness shine.
December 20, 2023
This had so much build up and potential to be a really impactful read but it fell short for me. It really lacked depth and a conclusion.
August 11, 2024
I honestly don’t even know what I just read
January 12, 2024
3.5 🫖🫖🫖🫖
January 15, 2024
I don't remember purchasing this, but Amazon tells me I did last month. Likely I was speed perusing Kindle deals, saw the name Cheryl Strayed, and immediately clicked yes without knowing what it was. While it seems to be a bit polarizing amongst readers and I suspect Cheryl and I have either nothing or the most profound things in common, I absolutely loved and adored beyond all reason.
This is a very short, article length memoir (memoirticle?) about Cheryl's mother-in-law passing away but, by nature of the author, becomes a reflection on how all of us deal with family (genetic and found), the difficult relationships found within, and how we face death. It was simultaneously soothing and intense.
"Thank you," she whispered with more force and clarity than I thought she had left. In three days, she'd take her last breath as Brian held her. "Thank you," she said again, like she wanted me to remember it.
And I did.
This is a very short, article length memoir (memoirticle?) about Cheryl's mother-in-law passing away but, by nature of the author, becomes a reflection on how all of us deal with family (genetic and found), the difficult relationships found within, and how we face death. It was simultaneously soothing and intense.
"Thank you," she whispered with more force and clarity than I thought she had left. In three days, she'd take her last breath as Brian held her. "Thank you," she said again, like she wanted me to remember it.
And I did.
January 10, 2024
*December 2023 Amazon Prime First Read
Read
March 24, 2025Well just a short story super short there was no emotions I had more was about to cry at the end but did not have the opportunity since it ended and I was confused but not bad just need more to this story
December 18, 2024
Entertaining relationship listening 🎶👒🏙
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
I picked this novella by the title
This novella is about the relationship between a mother-in-law and the daughter in law. The mother-in-law is in a nursing home with only a short time to live. The story is about their relationship.
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of family relationships over a life time. 2024 👒😘
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
I picked this novella by the title
This novella is about the relationship between a mother-in-law and the daughter in law. The mother-in-law is in a nursing home with only a short time to live. The story is about their relationship.
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of family relationships over a life time. 2024 👒😘
January 16, 2024
Grab the tissues, prepare to have all the emotions.
April 9, 2024
Rating: � 4/5
To describe Joan was to tell a story that began with a lie.
"But there’s a spiritual component to dying. To some degree, people need to release whatever’s holding them here before they can make the transition."
Two Women Walk into a Bar is a poignant short memoir, in which Cheryl (the author) reflects on the complicated relationship with her mother-in-law, Joan, who has been given weeks to live.
This short story gives a glimpse into family ties, love, loss, and reconciliation. It's a quick read at only 30 pages and definitely worth it. I highly recommend it!
To describe Joan was to tell a story that began with a lie.
"But there’s a spiritual component to dying. To some degree, people need to release whatever’s holding them here before they can make the transition."
Two Women Walk into a Bar is a poignant short memoir, in which Cheryl (the author) reflects on the complicated relationship with her mother-in-law, Joan, who has been given weeks to live.
This short story gives a glimpse into family ties, love, loss, and reconciliation. It's a quick read at only 30 pages and definitely worth it. I highly recommend it!
January 11, 2024
Two Women Walk Into a Bar is the wonderful true story about Cheryl Strayed's lovingly complicated relationship with her mother-in-law. It is the best of the Amazon Original Stories I have read and I have no doubt that it will resonate with other women readers.
I received a drc from the publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks.
I received a drc from the publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks.
January 18, 2024
What the...??
First, this isn't a book. It's an essay.
Second, I was really looking forward to reading more about the MIL/DIL relationship in a way I assumed only Strayed could do, but this felt like a highlight reel that lacked any real depth or emotion. There were a few highlight-worthy sentenes, but overall, it fell really flat and I'm ultimately confused as to its purpose.
It was only 31 pages - which helps and hurts it overall. Helps because it was easy to power through. Hurts because that's why it lacked any depth or emotion.
First, this isn't a book. It's an essay.
Second, I was really looking forward to reading more about the MIL/DIL relationship in a way I assumed only Strayed could do, but this felt like a highlight reel that lacked any real depth or emotion. There were a few highlight-worthy sentenes, but overall, it fell really flat and I'm ultimately confused as to its purpose.
It was only 31 pages - which helps and hurts it overall. Helps because it was easy to power through. Hurts because that's why it lacked any depth or emotion.
January 3, 2024
I would read anything Cheryl Strayed writes. Period.
This is a short novella about Cheryl's mother in law as she nears her end of life moment. it's a hopeful, funny, and emotion-filled story. I felt, honestly like most of Strayed's writing, that it helps me to be a better person in a very similar situation. Strayed was able to put words to the differences between them and move on - something I have yet to do. I recommend this to any Strayed fan or anyone dealing with elderly parents or extended family
#Twowomanwalkintoabar #cherylstrayed
#amazon
This is a short novella about Cheryl's mother in law as she nears her end of life moment. it's a hopeful, funny, and emotion-filled story. I felt, honestly like most of Strayed's writing, that it helps me to be a better person in a very similar situation. Strayed was able to put words to the differences between them and move on - something I have yet to do. I recommend this to any Strayed fan or anyone dealing with elderly parents or extended family
#Twowomanwalkintoabar #cherylstrayed
#amazon
May 22, 2024
The first thing you should know is that this is a true story, that the author lived through this experience
Not sure how I feel about this book
It was a bit depressing, but I suppose that should be expected in a story about a woman dealing with her mother-in-law's weeks of dying
That said, the author talked about her relationship with her husband's mother
The relationship changes during the the weeks of her dying
The mother-in-law excepts the author and her marriage to her son, and her only child
Not sure how I feel about this book
It was a bit depressing, but I suppose that should be expected in a story about a woman dealing with her mother-in-law's weeks of dying
That said, the author talked about her relationship with her husband's mother
The relationship changes during the the weeks of her dying
The mother-in-law excepts the author and her marriage to her son, and her only child
March 30, 2025
A good wholesome short story.
January 6, 2024
strucking emotion, it made me kind of depressed. People will die sooner or later, how sad it is.
December 14, 2023
It is hard to write about the end of life experience of others, and family dynamics. Strayed does a fine job on both in a very short piece. A LOT there in a very little space.
December 3, 2023
I chose to read it because it was a very short memoir; I didn't expect to like it. Nor did I expect for it to be the right book at the right time! Going through something vaguely similar at the moment, I was shocked to see many of my own thoughts and feelings reflected back at me by Cheryl's astute observations and honest writing.
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