I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine [Paperback]

Roger Scruton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 2010

We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin. Whether or not good for the body, Scruton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts.

This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded.

In vino veritas.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Written with] customary brio

(Times Higher Education )

4 stars

[Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before.

(Metro )

[Scruton] writes deliciously ... this book is a marvellous read - provocative, spicy, balanced and brimful of wise words ... it is hugely recommendable.

(The Oldie )

If you are searching for an interesting gift for the wine buff in your life, this will last a lot longer than another bottle of wine ... The greatest joy of this book is the appendix where [Scruton] suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise.

(The Bookbag )

A good-natured and witty exploration of the wine-drinking phenomenon, from its place in Christian worship to a sojourn down at the local bar.

(Good Book Guide )

I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to ... Scruton's book is for people who are already wine lovers and want to link their pleasure to a greater world outside

(The Spectator )

Chosen as a non-fiction stocking-filler in The Herald, December 2009.

The third chapter is one of the finest expressions of reverence to French wines I have ever read - perfect for curling up with in front of the fire, with a large glass of claret.

(The Scotsman )

Reviewed in Evening Standard, 2009.

[Scruton] is no slouch when it comes to wine ... the first part of the book combines a memoir of his development as a "wino" (his word) with some useful tips and factoids ... in the book's second part ... he is good on wine as the expression of a place and community, on the nuances of intoxication and on the social beneficence of buying rounds.

(The Observer )

Spendid ... partly a serious guide to the wines of France, Italy, and Spain and (if you must) the "New World", it is also very funny ... this is one of Scruton's most enjoyable books, uncorking much wisdom, and concluding with a wicked guide to the right drink to take while reading various philosophers.

(Steven Poole, The Guardian )

Witty and philosophical.

(The Daily Telegraph )

Reviewed in Times Higher Education Supplement, December 2009.

Reviewed in Decanter, March 2010.

Author article in Decanter, March 2010.

Article by Mark Dooley on Scruton in Irish Daily Mail, February 2010

A novel approach...there are nuggets of wisdom and insight.
(The Herald )

[An] elegant defense of wine and its place in society ... offers a window into an unusually original, subtle, and independent mind: the mind of a gifted philosopher ... all wine lovers should feel compelled to read him.

(The World of Fine Wine )

Mentioned in France Magazine, April 2010.

They don't come much more knowledgeable than Roger Scruton ... light-hearted but thought-provoking

(Bath Life )

By turns challenging, enjoyable, thought-provoking (Times Literary Supplement )

He is by turns interesting, fatuous, informative, cranky, outrageous, rhetorically self-indulgent, and insightful...For general readers, and especially Monty Python fans, this book is great fun. Summing Up: Recommended.

(R.T. Lee, CHOICE )

[Scruton is] clearly a man of remarkable energy, art and scope ... [An] entertaining experience.

(The Australian )

[Written with] customary brio

(, )

4 stars

[Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before.

(, )

[Scruton] writes deliciously ... this book is a marvellous read - provocative, spicy, balanced and brimful of wise words ... it is hugely recommendable.

(, )

If you are searching for an interesting gift for the wine buff in your life, this will last a lot longer than another bottle of wine ... The greatest joy of this book is the appendix where [Scruton] suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise.

(, )

A good-natured and witty exploration of the wine-drinking phenomenon, from its place in Christian worship to a sojourn down at the local bar.

(, )

I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to ... Scruton’s book is for people who are already wine lovers and want to link their pleasure to a greater world outside

(, )

The third chapter is one of the finest expressions of reverence to French wines I have ever read - perfect for curling up with in front of the fire, with a large glass of claret.

(, )

[Scruton] is no slouch when it comes to wine ... the first part of the book combines a memoir of his development as a "wino" (his word) with some useful tips and factoids ... in the book's second part ... he is good on wine as the expression of a place and community, on the nuances of intoxication and on the social beneficence of buying rounds.

(, )

Spendid ... partly a serious guide to the wines of France, Italy, and Spain and (if you must) the "New World", it is also very funny ... this is one of Scruton's most enjoyable books, uncorking much wisdom, and concluding with a wicked guide to the right drink to take while reading various philosophers.

(, )

Witty and philosophical.

(, )

A novel approach...there are nuggets of wisdom and insight.
(, )

[An] elegant defense of wine and its place in society ... offers a window into an unusually original, subtle, and independent mind: the mind of a gifted philosopher ... all wine lovers should feel compelled to read him.

(, )

They don't come much more knowledgeable than Roger Scruton ... light-hearted but thought-provoking

(, )

He is by turns interesting, fatuous, informative, cranky, outrageous, rhetorically self-indulgent, and insightful...For general readers, and especially Monty Python fans, this book is great fun. Summing Up: Recommended.

(, )

[Scruton is] clearly a man of remarkable energy, art and scope ... [An] entertaining experience.

(, )

About the Author

Professor Roger Scruton is Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington and Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. His other books include Sexual Desire, The West and the Rest, England: An Elegy, News from Somewhere and Gentle Regrets (all published by Continuum).

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (November 25, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441170677
• ISBN-13: 978-1441170675
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much wider scope than the title suggests, February 1, 2010

By 

David in the USA (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine (Hardcover)

This book stayed unopened on my bookcase for a few weeks, as I expected it to be slight in content.

But, per bacco, what a surprise it turned out to be!

Scruton's is a mind that glows and this book distills a lifetime of intellectual adventure, with insights into French culture, Hindu philsophy, the breakdown of western society, and many other areas - all linked (usually tongue-in-cheek, or rather nose poised over glass) by the mystical presence of wine.

This is a deceptively deep book, an exciting read, and the best possible justification for the virtuous consumption of wine.

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The best of this book comes at the bottom of the glass, November 26, 2009

By 

Ripple (uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine (Hardcover)

In this book conservative philosopher and composer, Roger Scruton seeks to combine his interest in philosophy with his love of wine. He laments the passing of the Greek "symposiums" where wine was drunk and important issues discussed. The book is certainly interesting, but it is not the jolly, "good humoured antidote to the pretentious clap-trap" that the publishers promise. At least not until the appendix where he suggests what to drink while reading major philosophers' works with is very funny and well written.

He begins by recognising two people influential in his own discovery of wine, which read a little like appreciative retirement speeches to the two gentlemen concerned. He then moves on to discussing in detail French wines and then more briefly other wine regions. Here Scruton's knowledge and enthusiasm are evident, but he is something of a wine `buff' and there is plenty of wine-speak in evidence. Thus he suggests that `the best accompaniment to a bottle of fine old white Hermitage is a clay-baked hedgehog' and if you `roll the name Maillol in your mouth while imagining well-shaped buttocks and well-matured wine, and you won't be far from the taste of Collioure'. Not much of the promise of `an antidote to clap-trap' evident here, then.

In the second half, things get more interesting as he turns to philosophy and the role of wine and the implications of certain ideas to wine. Scruton is one of those writers who lets much of their character and opinion infuse his writing. He is unashamedly right wing, pro-France (and most other wine producters, especially American ones compare poorly in his view), anti-EU and largely un-`PC', and at times his views may cause mild offence to the more sensitive reader (the anti-fox hunting and modern Islamic views on alcohol get short shrift), albeit with some nice dry humour in parts (he suggests that the rich contribute to the well-being of the world by consuming the most expensive wines and converting it by natural processes to something that will benefit the soil).

But the greatest joy of this book is the appendix where he suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise. This, finally, fulfills the promise of the publisher's jacket notes. I would unreservedly award this chapter a five star rating.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Civilised wine companion, April 28, 2010

By 

Sirin (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine (Hardcover)

Roger Scruton is an oddity. A conservative intellectual (perhaps, that should be prefixed with the definite article), he offers a curiously recidivist philosophy, nostalgic for a past that never really existed anyway. It is easy to dismiss him as many do as an anachronistic fox hunting old fart. But that would be a grave mistake, for Scruton actually has much to say in his quirky highbrow style, about the smashed pint glass of modern culture.

Scruton is unapologetic in his commitment to the civilised life. Yes, he lets himself down occasionally by his taking of bribes from Japanese cigarette manufacturers to write pro smoking articles in the media, but his philosophy is in the Spinoza tradition - an attempt to locate man in his proper place as a creature of society and community, with longings and desires that cannot be satisfied by the hedonistic transience of everyday life.

Not that Scruton is against hedonism, mind you. This book is a testament to his love of literature, philosophy, wine and the life of the mind. Scruton knows his wine, and offers a cheeky and learned defence of the grape with this eloquent disquisition on the emotions and thoughts that good wine can produce in us. Like the diminished seventh of the Tristan chord in Wagner, Scruton finds his pleasures on higher ground than the majority of people. He is very much Mill's Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. And we owe him a glass for that.