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A Sidecar Named Desire
- Great Writers and the Booze That Stirred Them
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
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Publisher's summary
A rollicking history of alcohol and its literary imbibers, from Jane Austen’s beer brewing to James Joyce’s passion for Guinness to E. B. White’s cure for writer's block - a dry martini.
"Civilization begins with distillation." (William Faulkner)
"Bourbon does for me what the piece of cake did for Proust." (Walker Percy)
"God has a brown voice, full and soft as beer." (Anne Sexton)
Throughout history, there has been no greater catalyst for creativity among writers - so they claim - than a good, stiff drink. From Aristophanes’ attraction to wine, to Dostoevsky’s breakfast of grain vodka and brown bread, to Joan Didion’s fondness for gin, stories abound of how booze has fueled and inspired our literary icons.
In this volume, Greg Clarke and Monte Beauchamp take us on an unforgettable literary bar crawl. A Sidecar Named Desire is packed with historical factoids, anecdotes, booze trivia, and fascinating detours into the lives of our most storied literary personalities - along with literary-themed cocktail recipes such as Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon and Philip Larkin’s Gin and Tonic set to verse.
For the literary-minded drinker - whether wine, gin, vodka, beer, whiskey, or tequila is your elixir of choice - A Sidecar Named Desire will whet your appetite. Bottoms up!
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Whiskey Distilled
- A Populist Guide to the Water of Life
- By: Heather Greene
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In this lively and authoritative guide, Greene teaches listeners about whiskey and encourages them to make their own evaluations. Peppered with wry anecdotes drawn from her unusual life - and including recipes for delicious cocktails by some of today's most celebrated mixologists - Whiskey Distilled will be enthusiastically greeted by the whiskey curious as well as by journeymen whiskey drinkers thirsty to learn more about their beloved tipple.
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Buy the hard copy, skip the audio!
- By P Boz on 08-20-15
By: Heather Greene
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The United States of Beer
- A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink
- By: Dane Huckelbridge
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country - from a local and regional product (once upon a time, every American city had its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global megabrands, like Budweiser and Miller, that are synonymous with US capitalism. We learn of George Washington's failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley and of the 19th-century "beer barons", like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz.
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History Humanized
- By Dave on 06-25-16
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Girly Drinks
- A World History of Women and Alcohol
- By: Mallory O'Meara
- Narrated by: Mallory O'Meara
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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From the earliest days of civilization, alcohol has been at the center of social rituals and cultures worldwide. But when exactly did drinking become a gendered act? And why have bars long been considered "places for men" when, without women, they might not even exist? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly Drinks unveils an entire untold history of the female distillers, drinkers and brewers who have played a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol, from ancient Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi to iconic 1920s bartender Ada Coleman.
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A must-read book!!
- By Courtney C. on 11-03-21
By: Mallory O'Meara
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.
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Fun and Informative
- By Stoker on 09-09-11
By: Tom Standage
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The Juice
- Vinous Veritas: Essays
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Jay McInerney
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than a decade, Jay McInerney’s vinous essays, now featured in The Wall Street Journal, have been praised by restaurateurs (“Filled with small courses and surprising and exotic flavors, educational and delicious at the same time” —Mario Batali), by esteemed critics (“Brilliant, witty, comical, and often shamelessly candid and provocative” —Robert M. Parker Jr.), and by the media (“His wine judgments are sound, his anecdotes witty, and his literary references impeccable” — The New York Times).
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eye opener
- By FlGatorsGuy on 11-16-15
By: Jay McInerney
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A Short History of Drunkenness
- How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Almost every culture on Earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious, it can be sexual, it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors, or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep, or send you into battle. Making stops all over the world, A Short History of Drunkenness traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to the 20th century.
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Amazing
- By Sarah Tomsick on 10-30-24
By: Mark Forsyth
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Bourbon Empire
- The Past and Future of America's Whiskey
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America's most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America's political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.
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Great whiskey history great American history
- By Larry G. on 06-16-15
By: Reid Mitenbuler
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Whiskey Women
- The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey
- By: Fred Minnick
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Without women, whiskey may not exist. In Whiskey Women, Wall Street Journal-best-selling author Fred Minnick tells the tales of women who have created this industry, from Mesopotamia's first beer brewers and distillers to America's rough-and-tough bootleggers during Prohibition. Women have long distilled, marketed, and owned spirits companies. These strong women built many iconic brands, including Bushmills, Laphroaig, and Maker's Mark.
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Women should be proud of this.
- By Tracy on 01-29-16
By: Fred Minnick
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The Mezcal Rush
- Explorations in Agave Country
- By: Granville Greene
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Mezcal. In recent years, the oldest spirit in the Americas has been reinvented as a pricy positional good popular among booze connoisseurs and the mixologists who use it as a cocktail ingredient. Unlike most high-end distillates, most small-batch mezcal is typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, often under challenging conditions.
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Wow! Just Wow!
- By Si saben cómo me pongo ¿pa' qué me invitan? on 09-25-17
By: Granville Greene
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A Brief History of Vice
- How Bad Behavior Built Civilization
- By: Robert Evans
- Narrated by: Tristan Morris
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Guns, germs, and steel might have transformed us from hunter-gatherers into modern man, but booze, sex, trash talk, and tripping built our civilization. Cracked editor Robert Evans brings his signature dogged research and lively insight to uncover the many and magnificent ways vice has influenced history, from the prostitute-turned-empress who scored a major victory for women's rights to the beer that helped create - and destroy - South America's first empire.
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Funny and somewhat informative
- By Neuron on 08-20-16
By: Robert Evans
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Short Course in Beer
- An Introduction to Tasting and Talking About the World's Most Civilized Beverage
- By: Lynn Hoffman
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Straightforward and opinionated, Short Course in Beer is designed to turn the novice beer lover into an expert imbiber and the casual drinker into an enthusiast. Readers will come to understand the beauty of beer and the sources of its flavor, as well as learn which beers are worth our time and which are not. With tongue in cheek, the author examines beer's historical connections to the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, and modern-day soccer riots. He talks frankly (and joyfully) about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain, he defends beer from its enemies, and ushers it out of the frat house and into the dining room.
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An Ok Beer Book
- By AppleCedAR on 10-21-13
By: Lynn Hoffman
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Drinking in America
- Our Secret History
- By: Susan Cheever
- Narrated by: Barbara Benjamin Creel
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In Drinking in America, best-selling author Susan Cheever chronicles our national love affair with liquor, taking a long, thoughtful look at the way alcohol has changed our nation's history. This is the often-overlooked story of how alcohol has shaped American events and the American character from the 17th to the 20th century.
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Revisionist history at its worst
- By Dawson Roy Lewis III on 10-26-15
By: Susan Cheever
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Christmas Past
- The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions
- By: Brian Earl
- Narrated by: Brian Earl
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions reveals the surprising, quirky, mysterious, and sometimes horrifying stories behind the most wonderful time of the year.
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Pop-culture Christmas History
- By Harley Easton on 01-23-23
By: Brian Earl