Book Review: "Everyday Drinking"
“One infallible mark of the true drink-man is that he reads everything on the subject that comes his way, from full-dress books to those tiny recipe-leaflets the makers tend to hang round the necks of their bottles.”
So opines Kingsley Amis, the author of this book about drinks, drinking and drinkers. How or when it came to be in my possession is a complete mystery. I vaguely recall flipping through it at some time in the past but don’t remember much about the contents. It may be worth your time if you appreciate British humor, certainly so if you desire insight into the thinking and behavior of Great Britain’s boozing class.
Amis was British, of course, the author of some twenty novels and other, shorter works and a master of comic prose. He was knighted in 1990 and died in 1995 at the age of seventy-three. The volume I have is actually a compilation of three of his out-of-print works, Kingsley Amis on Drink, Every Day Drinking and How’s Your Glass? The first is a fairly cohesive book consisting of logically-organized chapters, obviously intended to be a stand-alone volume. The others, not so much. Every Day Drinking is a compilation of short writings penned at different times and gathered together for publication; How’s your Glass? is a collection of quizzes. The latter two are still funny and informative despite their unorthodox organization.
The brief Introduction by Christopher Hitchens, entitled The Muse of Booze, is every bit as entertaining as Amis’s work itself. Consider:
“It has been said that alcohol is a good servant and a bad master. Nice try. The plain fact is that it makes other people, and indeed life itself, a good deal less boring.”
“From him (Amis) I learned the gruff rule of his own house, which was more warm if less polite than his “How’s your Glass?” It ran: “I’ll pour you the first one and after that, if you don’t have one, it’s your own f*** fault. You know where it is.”
So, let’s begin with a recitation of my favorite bits of Kingsley Amis drinking wisdom. There are many more, each truthful and accurate:
“I am … merely stating the basic fact that conversation, hilarity and drink are connected in a profoundly human, particularly intimate way.”
“(T)he collective social benefits of drinking altogether outweigh the individual disasters it may precipitate.”
“The human race has not devised any way of dissolving barriers, getting to know the other chap fast, breaking the ice, that is one-tenth as handy and efficient as letting you and the other chap, or chaps, cease to be totally sober at about the same rate in agreeable surroundings.”
The book covers a wide variety of topics as suggested by the title, including literature about drink, drink recipes, what to drink with what, hangovers, how not to get drunk and the drinking man’s diet. It has a nostalgic, mid-20th century vibe about it, as one would expect given the lifespan of the author.I think it’s worth a look.The cheapest used copy I found at abebooks.com is $6.46 with free shipping; it is also available in eBook format.
