- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; First Edition edition (3 Nov 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747599785
- ISBN-13: 978-0747599784
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 317,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
`A witty, belligerent and often profound defence of the drinking habits that Kingsley acquired' --Observer
Review
"Kingsley Amis's drink writing is better than anybody else's, ever..." - Esquire "These books are so delicious they impart a kind of contact high; they make you feel as if you've just had the first sip of the planet's coldest, driest martini." - The New York Times Daily Review "There has never been a more charming, erudite, eager, generous and devoted lover of drink - to judge by his writing - than Kingsley Amis." - The New York Times Sunday Book Review "His treatise on the hangover (both physical and metaphysical) is among his best known for a reason, and is required reading for the dipsomaniacs amongst us." - The Washington Times
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've read LUCKY JIM, Amis's hilarious novel about Jim Dixon, a marginal associate professor at a second-rate university who is aggrieved by a pompous boss, has a funny scheming mind, and enjoys a drink or three. Well, EVERYDAY DRINKING suggests that the perspective of the fictitious Dixon might have come easily to Amis, since his voice in ED shows a sensitivity to pomposity (wine snobs), amusing party stratagems (how to serve inferior wines while presenting yourself as a wine expert), and great practical knowledge about the complete drinking experience, which ranges from stocking your bar to tending your hangover to periodic abstinence.
Reading ED raises this question: Why bother to buy a mere informative guide about wines and spirits when Amis gives you plenty of information but packaged with great common sense and a comic novelist's droll narrative skill. For example:
"General Principle 1: Up to a point (i.e. short of offering your guests one of those Balkan plonks marketed as wine...), go for quantity rather than quality. Most people would rather have two glasses of ordinary decent port than one of rare vintage. On the same reasoning, give them big drinks rather than small...Serious drinkers will be pleased and reassured, unserious ones will not be offended, and you will use up less chatting-time going round to recharge glasses."
At the same time, ED can be read as a cautionary text, in which sophisticated pleasure becomes excess. As Christopher Hitchens observes in the introduction: "...the world now knows what Kingsley's innumerable friends had come to realize, which is that booze got to him in the end, and robbed him of his wit and charm as well as his health." To this reader of LUCKY JIM, this also seemed the likely fate of Professor Dixon.
Nonetheless, ED is recommended for the drinking man (and woman) who seeks a specialist's informed pleasure in what is surely the world's primary (public) leisure activity.
Reading ED raises this question: Why bother to buy a mere informative guide about wines and spirits when Amis gives you plenty of information but packaged with great common sense and a comic novelist's droll narrative skill. For example:
"General Principle 1: Up to a point (i.e. short of offering your guests one of those Balkan plonks marketed as wine...), go for quantity rather than quality. Most people would rather have two glasses of ordinary decent port than one of rare vintage. On the same reasoning, give them big drinks rather than small...Serious drinkers will be pleased and reassured, unserious ones will not be offended, and you will use up less chatting-time going round to recharge glasses."
At the same time, ED can be read as a cautionary text, in which sophisticated pleasure becomes excess. As Christopher Hitchens observes in the introduction: "...the world now knows what Kingsley's innumerable friends had come to realize, which is that booze got to him in the end, and robbed him of his wit and charm as well as his health." To this reader of LUCKY JIM, this also seemed the likely fate of Professor Dixon.
Nonetheless, ED is recommended for the drinking man (and woman) who seeks a specialist's informed pleasure in what is surely the world's primary (public) leisure activity.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
... And the other two thirds are a rare instance of Kinglsey Amis just not trying, or feeling a lack of his usual wary wit. This is a compilation of the three books he wrote about boozing in the seventies and eighties, of which the first, 'On Drinking', is an absolute joy - like his best fictional writing, it's true, enjoyable and consistently funny. The descriptions of his inventive list of cocktails are very fun, his distinction between the physical and the metaphysical hangover (and consequent cures for both) are thoughtful, and the analysis of the drinking man's guide to making guests feel they've drunk well at a dinner party is basically a very entertaining short story. All of them are very funny, and extremely quotable.
The second two thirds of the book are made up of a) a collection of columns written in the early 80s for the Express, in which he comes across as rather tired (uncharacteristically for him I've failed to find a single funny line in it - it was written in quite a fallow period after Jake's Thing and Stanley and the Women, regarded as lesser books of his I think, and before he came back to form with the magnificent The Old Devils), and b) a collection of quizzes. I can't quite put into words how disappointing it is to expect to find 100 pages of Kingsley Amis writing about booze and to discover a whole section of unadorned quizzes.
Nevertheless I can't recommend the first 100 pages enough - easily worth five quid.
The second two thirds of the book are made up of a) a collection of columns written in the early 80s for the Express, in which he comes across as rather tired (uncharacteristically for him I've failed to find a single funny line in it - it was written in quite a fallow period after Jake's Thing and Stanley and the Women, regarded as lesser books of his I think, and before he came back to form with the magnificent The Old Devils), and b) a collection of quizzes. I can't quite put into words how disappointing it is to expect to find 100 pages of Kingsley Amis writing about booze and to discover a whole section of unadorned quizzes.
Nevertheless I can't recommend the first 100 pages enough - easily worth five quid.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an entertaining read, also surprising how much you learn about booze along the way - cocktail recipes, the origins of drinks, and even how to cater for the perfect drinks party, all drenched in Amis wit. There is a little repetition, but this is due to this book being a collection of writings on drink, rather than a stand alone volume. A must for anyone who not just enjoys a drink, but enjoys enjoying a drink. Cheers!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Endlessly Entertaining
This is a brilliant book written by a master of comedy and the English Language. Even when suffering from a 'metaphysical hangover'(explanation in the book) I found the strength to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jack
Well received
Given as a gift. The recipient was looking forward to soaking himself in Kingsley's boozy world.
Published on 9 Feb 2009 by Mr. T. Giles
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