Beer Money

A Memoir of Privilege and Loss

By: Frances Stroh

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

In the tradition of Rich Cohen's Sweet and Low and Sean Wilsey's Oh the Glory of It All, a memoir of a city, an industry, and a dynasty in decline, and the story of a young artist's struggle to find her way out of the ruins.

Frances Stroh's earliest memories are ones of great privilege: shopping trips to London and New York, lunches served by black-tied waiters at the Regency Hotel, and a house filled with precious antiques, which she was forbidden to touch. Established in Detroit in 1850, by 1984 the Stroh Brewing Company had become the largest private beer fortune in America and a brand emblematic of the American dream itself; while Stroh was coming of age, the Stroh family fortune was estimated to be worth $700 million.

But behind the beautiful façade lay a crumbling foundation. Detroit's economy collapsed with the retreat of the automotive industry to the suburbs and abroad, and the Stroh family found their wealth and legacy disappearing. As their fortune dissolved in a little over a decade, the family was torn apart internally by divorce and one family member's drug bust; disagreements over the management of the business; and disputes over the remaining money they possessed. Even as they turned against one another, looking for a scapegoat on whom to blame the unraveling of their family, they could not anticipate that even far greater tragedy lay in store.

Stroh's memoir is elegantly spare in structure and mercilessly clear-eyed in its self-appraisal - at once a universally relatable family drama and a great American story.

©2016 Frances Stroh (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Somewhat interesting

I chose this book based on another high review and I was disappointed. While I give the author credit for sharing candidly her life, both the good memories and the difficult, I found after awhile it seemed like whining (not necessarily all by her, but through her) without a point or plot. The writing was at times above average and at times forced; the outline flowing in places and messy or lost in others.

Compelling memoir with fantastic imagery

I was swept up in all of the complicated emotions of this well-written memoir.

Great review of a true family

Amazingly honest portrayal of the B family through the tough times. Not a super up lifting story or one of redemption but an honest look at the decline of an American family's fortune

we are all flawed

A sad story. well written. I knew Charlie in prep school. A great lesson for manywell off families.

Stroh’s beer story includes Detroit

I live in a Detroit suburb and am about the same age as the author.
It’s sad to see her family business fall apart apparently due to many issues but mostly the third generation of the company.
The author trashes Detroit, but in the 30 years I’ve lived here, it’s become a much better city.