In her memoir "Drinking With Men" author and part-time bartender Rosie Schaap talks about how bartending shaped her life and the experience that came from it.

Author and part-time bartender Rosie Schaap started working in a bar at the mere age of 15. While commuting to work by train out of New York City, Schaap reveals that she was always drawn to the train's bar car and that's what inspired her to start working in a bar. She speaks to NPR about bar car commuters, the experience that changed her life and her decision to write a book.

On bar car commuters:

"Bar car commuters, as I'm sure you know, are different from other commuters. They're louder, drunker and smokier and that's what really drew me to the bar car. They just seemed to be having such a good time, and they really seemed like a community."

On her decision to write a book:

"When I started to think more seriously about writing about being a woman in bars, I realized that gender is no small part of this. That as a woman who really loves bars, what happens is you find yourself assimilating. There's this thing that happens where you become one of the guys. For me, it's been very good. I don't want to sound naive about it, but the vast majority of my experience in bars has been so good."

On losing her husband:

"You really need to be on your toes when someone you love is dying. There's a lot to deal with, so I kind of needed to have that end-of-night drink, to sort of let a little bit of that go at the end of the day, but I couldn't drink very much at that time. I had too much to do."

Does going to the bar every night mean you have a drinking problem?

"I think if I never asked myself that question, I'd probably be in trouble. My answer is no, I'm not an alcoholic. I think it's good that I've had to sit and think about that, but it's never been hard for me not to drink alcohol. It's been hard for me not to go to bars. And there is a difference."