Barbara Holland

The Joy of Drinking

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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.
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145 printed pages
Publication year
2008
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Quotes

  • Валентина Михееваhas quoted4 years ago
    Apparently most of our ancestors greeted the dawn with a tankard of beer or a jolt of brandy, or both, and what was once called the "hair of the dog that bit you" restored the blood sugar and slowed the sickening drop of the blood-alcohol level. The modern hangover may be attributed partly to our stern morning sobriety and partly to guilt: we're being punished, and we deserve it.
  • Валентина Михееваhas quoted4 years ago
    The tavern, bar, pub, local, cafe, shebeen,or what-have-you has always been the evening refuge, escape from the dark and dangers of the night, witches and ghosts, family and work.
  • Валентина Михееваhas quoted4 years ago
    The tavern, bar, pub, local, cafe, shebeen,or what-have-you has always been the evening refuge, escape from the dark and dangers of the night, witches and ghosts, family and work. In the countryside, escape from silence and loneliness, along with a chance to hear some news of the wider world; a spot of gossip, crop prices, and the rise and fall of empires. In cities, the place to meet neighbors you would never otherwise meet and weave together a social family out of the loose strings of strangers. Everywhere, the nourishing contact with humans, known and new. What E. B. White called "the golden companionship of the tavern."

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