Customer Reviews

Mondo Cocktail

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mondo Cocktail was an unexpected pleasure. I'm rather heavily invested in cocktail books, and a very small percentage of the ones in current distribution are worthy of their subject. Of those that are, I either know or have had some sort of interaction with all of their authors - at least I thought I had. I was woefully unaware of Christine Sismondo. Hers is a literary text, and that's a juxtaposition rarely found: the literary cocktail book. Like other nonfiction books of belletristic note, Mondo Cocktail draws from a wellspring of divergent citations, removed from the central (in this case) cocktail topic, and weaves them artfully into a persuasive narrative. It's both readable and sophisticated. It's also personal in that she stitches herself and her feelings about the subject into the larger tapestry, comfortably, but not self-consciously. She eschews the common stories with their predictable twists, instead opting for her own apparently depthy research. This personal approach invariably introduces elements in the writing with which I disagree, but what a fabulous time I had finding them.

There are some really interesting tidbits in this book and I think it's a good read, most especially for some of the drink recipes (the one for Bourbon Sours is excellent). However, the author does tend to lose focus and ramble on about personal things that aren't even remotely as interesting as the non-personal anecdotes. In addition, when she refers to Allen Ginsberg as Allen Ginsburg and his famous poem as The Howl (it's just called Howl), her research talents (not to mention knowledge of things someone of her generation should be familiar with) are rather suspect. The rift between fact and error in that one example makes me seriously doubt the veracity of much of the book's other claims.

I tend to agree with the last reviewer--the author's research is spotty at best, yet she speaks with such authority as to brook no disagreement.

It's odd that she claims to draw on and respect the history of the cocktails contained, that she positions herself as a cocktail purist, and yet her recipes are almost unfailingly modern twistings of the originals.

The worst is her martini recipe: 5 drops of vermouth! That's not a martini, it's chilled gin.

It's not just about the recipes. This book weaved literature, history, culture together with alcohol to create an interesting and humorous book. It is light, yet academic in tone, interspersed with personal anecdotes. Since I am not an expert in the subjects of the books, I cannot speak to the accuracy of her research. However this is one of the most entertaining book I've read recently. I especially enjoyed the chapters on mojito, bourbon sour, and martini.

Best I've ever had. And I don't think the book was meant to be an academic history or anything as the other reviewers seemed to think - more of a humour book, really. I laughed. Out loud. On public transit. Read it at home if you're the easily embarassed type.