Customer Reviews

Drink: A Social History of America

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4 star:		(2)
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This is not a book on alcohol, but more specifically a meandering tour of how alcohol shaped the American culture. From the history of the three-martini lunch to the failure of the Prohibition, Barr explains the whole deal with the perspective of common observation. If you are the type that picks the expensive wines to make up for your lack of taste, Barr explains the history behind these developed habits. Or the moderate drinker who believes it's good for the heart, Barr explains why. A truly honest story that might make you want to relive the old days when wine sold at dollars for a gallon. Barr will make you want to get off your duff and try mixing your own concoction of rum punch?

Do not read this book if you are a prohibitionist, a MADD nut, a Protestant fundamentalist, or a sensitive democrat (as in one who worships democracy). This book is an informative and refreshing antidote to self-righteous temperance posturing, puerile nostrums regarding youth and alcohol, and misconceptions about America's love/hate relationship with the divine nectar, written from a sardonic British perspective.

I especially enjoyed the chapter entitled "Social Controls," which covers Prohibition and other attempts at prohibiting or regulating the liquid vice. Do not be fooled--prohibition is alive and well on university campuses throughout America. The 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a legacy of Prohibition and Victorian notions of youthful purity and vulnerability. The organizations and specific policies may change, but Americans' attitudes toward alcohol remain dangerously mired in ignorance. The Women's Christian Temperance Union has merely been replaced by MADD.

A very enjoyable book filled with interesting vignettes (though a bit repetitive in parts), Drink should be read with a fine beverage in hand, toasting blue noses and busybodies everywhere.

While there are certainly some interesting facts, and I tend to agree with many of the numerous opinions of the author about prohibition of any sort, far too much of the book focuses on his obvious preference for wine over all other drinks and his obvious disdain for spirits. He even has a piece where he talks about British wine snobs in an unfavorable light, but then concludes with one of the snobbiest British interpretations of American culture I can imagine. If you are going to write about American drinking culture and history, try to address it without such an obvious bias or you do nothing but confirm the reasons the majority of Americans don't like wine as much as you think they should.

There are other books on the topic that are more approachable and less snobby, get one of those unless you are a wine snob and want to have your opinions confirmed by a foreigner.

Do not read this book if you are a prohibitionist, a MADD nut, a Protestant fundamentalist, or a sensitive democrat (as in one who worships democracy). This book is an informative and refreshing antidote to self-righteous temperance posturing, puerile nostrums regarding youth and alcohol, and misconceptions about America's love/hate relationship with the divine nectar, written from a sardonic British perspective.

I especially enjoyed the chapter entitled "Social Controls," which covers Prohibition and other attempts at prohibiting or regulating the liquid vice. Do not be fooled--prohibition is alive and well on university campuses throughout America. The 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a legacy of Prohibition and Victorian notions of youthful purity and vulnerability. The organizations and specific policies may change, but Americans' attitudes toward alcohol remain dangerously mired in ignorance. The Women's Christian Temperance Union has merely been replaced by MADD.

A very enjoyable book filled with interesting vignettes (though a bit repetitive in parts), Drink should be read with a fine beverage in hand, toasting blue noses and busybodies everywhere.

This book was okay. The information was interesting and the writing flowed fairly well, but the author definitely needed to do a lot more editing. I also found the author's constant interjection of opinions to be irritating. Even if I agree with the author, I just want the facts and should be able to make up my own mind. Also, the insane number of footnotes that only stated "this was covered or will be covered in another chapter in more detail" were completely uneccessary. Just let me read the book and the information should unfold.