Pulitzer Prize finalist and former Wall Street Journal writer Ken Wells set out on America's mighty River of Beer (aka the Mississippi) in a quest for his own Oz: the mythical Perfect Beer Joint. Along the way he samples great beer with the Heartland's raconteurs, probes Elvis's beer-drinking habits, drops in on brewers and hopheads, tours the World's Largest Six-Pack and a bar once owned by Al Capone, and visits an Extreme Beer Maker whose dream is 50-proof brew. This is a vision of America that readers have never seen before- through the frosty prism of a beer glass.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"The best beer book of the year."
-Portland Oregonian
"A subversive and terribly well-written book about beer culture in America."
-Lew Bryson, Ale Street News
"Any author who can talk his publisher into paying for him to drink his way across America deserves to be taken seriously."
-Michael Lewis, author of Liar's Poker and Moneyball
"Steinbeck would be impressed."
-Denver Post
-Portland Oregonian
"A subversive and terribly well-written book about beer culture in America."
-Lew Bryson, Ale Street News
"Any author who can talk his publisher into paying for him to drink his way across America deserves to be taken seriously."
-Michael Lewis, author of Liar's Poker and Moneyball
"Steinbeck would be impressed."
-Denver Post
About the Author
Ken Wells is a former writer for the Wall Street Journal. A senior editor at Portfolio magazine, he lives with his family in the New York City area.
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More About the Author
Ken Wells, novelist and journalist, grew up in a beer-drinking family deep in South Louisiana's Cajun bayou country. His father was a part-time alligator hunter and snake collector and his mother a gumbo chef extraordinaire. Second of six sons, Wells began his journalism career covering car wrecks and gator sightings for the weekly Houma, La., Courier newspaper.
He has gone on to an illustrious career: a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the Miami Herald; editor of two Pulitzer-Prize-winning projects for Page One of The Wall Street Journal where, over a 24-year period, he also roamed the globe covering the first Persian Gulf War, South Africa's transition to a multiracial democracy and many other stories. He has since worked as senior editor for Conde Nast Portfolio magazine and is now an editor-at-large for Bloomberg News, writing and editing longform narrative journalism for Bloomberg's projects and investigations team.
Wells is the author of four well-received novels of the Cajun bayous: Meely LaBauve (a 2000 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book); Junior's Leg (2001); Logan's Storm (2002); and Crawfish Mountain (2007).
He has also penned two non-fiction books: Travels with Barley: a Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint (2004), a travelogue through America's $75 billion beer industry; and The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous, a story of blue-collar heroism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Pirates, published in September 2008 by Yale University Press, was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize and won the Harry Chapin book award in September 2009.
His fifth novel, Rascal, a Dog and His Boy, will be published by Knopf-Random House Young Adult in September 2010. He is currently working on a memoir.
Wells lives in New York City, where he continues on his quest to find the Perfect Beer Joint and dabbles in his hobbies that include photography and song-writing. He often wishes he were fishing.
He has gone on to an illustrious career: a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the Miami Herald; editor of two Pulitzer-Prize-winning projects for Page One of The Wall Street Journal where, over a 24-year period, he also roamed the globe covering the first Persian Gulf War, South Africa's transition to a multiracial democracy and many other stories. He has since worked as senior editor for Conde Nast Portfolio magazine and is now an editor-at-large for Bloomberg News, writing and editing longform narrative journalism for Bloomberg's projects and investigations team.
Wells is the author of four well-received novels of the Cajun bayous: Meely LaBauve (a 2000 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book); Junior's Leg (2001); Logan's Storm (2002); and Crawfish Mountain (2007).
He has also penned two non-fiction books: Travels with Barley: a Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint (2004), a travelogue through America's $75 billion beer industry; and The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous, a story of blue-collar heroism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Pirates, published in September 2008 by Yale University Press, was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize and won the Harry Chapin book award in September 2009.
His fifth novel, Rascal, a Dog and His Boy, will be published by Knopf-Random House Young Adult in September 2010. He is currently working on a memoir.
Wells lives in New York City, where he continues on his quest to find the Perfect Beer Joint and dabbles in his hobbies that include photography and song-writing. He often wishes he were fishing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beer Culture not Beer Joints,
By CRCobb (Carolinas, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Travels With Barley: The Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint (Paperback)
I was thoroughly disappointed with the conclusion of the book, though I was convinced, long before the end, that the book was more about beer production (mass to craft) and beer styles than been joints. I liked reading about how beer is marketed, the changing of the beer scene (e.g. "The Lager Wars"), and the liberalization of beer production (e.g. legalization of homebrewing in the 1970s) and the increasing diversity of beer in America.This book is not about beer joints. The author should have shed that format long before the final edit. But I enjoying reading the book for what it is. I hope I can find a better American beer travelogue.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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mullet toss, beer people, oil patch, beer guy, yeast rustling, yeast rustlers, beer scribe, beer quest, beer movement, craft brewers, brewpub chain, beer knowledge, yeast labs, beer scene, beer writer, lager yeast, ale yeast, beer style, beer culture, regional brewers, strongest beer, beer joint, craft beer, beer wholesalers, beer yeast Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ken Wells, River of Beer, New Orleans, New York, Perfect Beer Joint, Extreme Beer, Beer Geeks, San Francisco, Miller Lite, Beer Goddess, Bud Light, Michael Jackson, Mississippi River, Hooters Girls, World War, Lager Wars, Dogfish Head, Dixie Cup, Yeast People, Adolphus Busch, Elk Mountain, Kcn Wells, Boston Beer, Mark Twain, Grand Wazoo Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
mullet toss, beer people, oil patch, beer guy, yeast rustling, yeast rustlers, beer scribe, beer quest, beer movement, craft brewers, brewpub chain, beer knowledge, yeast labs, beer scene, beer writer, lager yeast, ale yeast, beer style, beer culture, regional brewers, strongest beer, beer joint, craft beer, beer wholesalers, beer yeast Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ken Wells, River of Beer, New Orleans, New York, Perfect Beer Joint, Extreme Beer, Beer Geeks, San Francisco, Miller Lite, Beer Goddess, Bud Light, Michael Jackson, Mississippi River, Hooters Girls, World War, Lager Wars, Dogfish Head, Dixie Cup, Yeast People, Adolphus Busch, Elk Mountain, Kcn Wells, Boston Beer, Mark Twain, Grand Wazoo Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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