Customer Reviews

Alcohol and the Writer

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Dr. Donald Goodwin's "Alcohol and the Writer" doesn't demonize alcohol as a possible fuel for creative fire. However, he doesn't make alcohol abuse or alcoholism romantic by romanticizing the writers he examines. Rather, he shows how alcohol may have indeed inspired such greats as Hemingway and Faulkner while simultaneously exposing how alcohol contributed to their self-destruction. Also fascinating is his criteria for alcoholism and his section on why writers--American writers in particular--abuse alcohol so often. His "loner theory" is illuminating. Overall the book punctures a small hole into research on creativity. Goodwin's style lacks psychobabble jargon and seems to be written for readers, not for psychiatrists, though they could find the book valuable as well.

Goodwin's "Alcoholism: The Facts" is something of a classic - an accessible, short but thorough analysis of the problems caused by alcoholism, written by a doctor who definitely knows what he's talking about. I expected more from "Alcohol and the Writer" but then I shouldn't really feel surprised that it is so weak by comparison. It is the work of a good medic mistaking himself for a good literary critic simply because he likes books. It just isn't enough.
The points Goodwin makes about alcohol and writers are incredibly unoriginal and have been expressed far more eloquently and in much greater detail by writers themselves - see, for instance, Baudelaire's "Les Paradis Artificiels" or E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Kreisleriana," the latter having been written almost two centuries earlier. It doesn't take a genius to work out that "There are three opinions about whether alcohol provides inspiration for writers. One holds that it never does, another that it sometimes does and a third that it is essential." So, that's everything covered, really?
Goodwin gets taken in by all the old stereotypes about "tragic, lonely and doomed" alcoholic writers. It isn't enough to make the reader aware that you know this may be just an empty cliche. There can often be degrees of overlap but Goodiwn doesn't take advantage of his medical knowledge to come to any new conclusions about why the stereotypes could hold true. If you are just going to quote Horace and Nietzsche on intoxication without adding anything of your own, you might as well just write a bibliography and pass it on to someone who could write a better book on the same subject.
I feel horrible about being so cruel because Goodwin's enthusiasm for what he is doing and the writers he covers is truly engaging. It's clearly a book he really wanted to write and you get the impression that someone who cares so much should be permitted a little self-indulgence. Nonetheless, this book will not tell the curious anything valuable - he tells you why the subject is interesting but you probably knew that already before you picked up the book. Ultimately, if you're at all interested in alcohol and the writer, you could have written this book yourself.

Ernest Hemingway, a confirmed alcoholic, once dubbed alcohol as the "Giant Killer" of American letters and this fantastic study authored by Donald W. Goodwin, M.D., plumbs the depths of this issue.

He provides "case studies" of 8 writers. The lives of Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Georges Simenon, Eugene O'Neill, Edgar Allen Poe, William Faulkner, and Malcolm Lowry are discussed and the difficulties that each men experienced with alcohol are recounted in clinical and often shuddering detail. Goodwin cites hard data where available and explores the relationship between the psychology of the creative artist and chemical dependency. This book also cites the plethora of journalism that has appeared throughout the 20th century by medical professionals and literary minds alike which have likewise sought to treat this issue with the unsparing honesty that it deserves.

This slim volume holds multitudes and is an invaluable resource for devotees of these individual writers, lovers of great literature, and for creative artists who are perhaps struggling with their own chemical dependency issues. It strips the romance away from the image of the hard drinking writer who swills down his bourbon whilst producing a series of masterpieces. Furthermore, it is written with great love and respect for the power of literature and an equal amount of respect for the essential difficulties of the creative act. Highly recommended.

I stumbled across this book, priced to sell, at a nearby Half Price Book Store, and they had several copies. The author is harsh with John Steinbeck, who definitely did drink (and who mentioned severe hangovers in the journal he kept while writing East of Eden).

However, Steinbeck's descriptions of Doc's relationship with beer in Cannery Row were right on target -- likely inspired by real life -- and you couldn't turn more than five pages of that fine little book without craving to pop a cold one.