The joy of drinking 26 Reviewshttp://books.google.com/books/about/The_joy_of_drinking.html?id=i7G-AAAAIAAJ Bloomsbury, May 1, 2007 - Cooking - 150 pages With characteristic elegance and delicious wit, Barbara Holland, (“a national treasure,”—Philadelphia Inquirer) celebrates the age-old act of drinking in this gimlet-eyed survey of man’s relationship with booze, since the joyful discovery, ten thousand years ago, of fermented fruits and grains. In this spirited paean to alcohol, two parts cultural history, one part personal meditation, Holland takes readers on a bacchanalian romp through the Fertile Crescent, the Mermaid Tavern, Plymouth Rock, and Capitol Hill and reveals, as Faulkner famously once said, how civilization indeed begins with fermentation. Filled with tasty tidbits about distillers, bootleggers, taverns, hangovers, and Alcoholics Anonymous, The Joy of Drinking is a fascinating portrait of the world of pleasures fermented and distilled. "Holland traces the origin of the toast and of settling lawsuits 'out of court' (in colonial America taverns were built next to courthouses, and opposing parties would go next door to talk things over). She describes the mechanics of hangovers and their cures and elaborates on the ceremony of mixing martinis . . . And as you might guess, Holland, who has written a dozen or so books, has done impressive research on a subject dear to some of us—writers who drink . . . Holland has a light, winsome touch and is always funny."—Robert R. Harris, The New York Times Book Review |
