A review of a comendium of Kingsley Amis' thoughts on drinking is out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/23/kingsleyamis-alcohol
They just don't make drinkers like Kingsley anymore. Christopher Hitchens probably comes close but would probably be quickly routed in a set to with the elder Amis, even though he's been dead for some time.
As for me, I've decided to more properly dedicate myself to the two bottles of Famous Grouse I just found in my desk drawer. They'll go well with Fraser's Flashman, or with Mr. Amis.
4 comments:
Excellent stuff. I loved his comments on the English Pub, although they reminded me that my own favorite watering holes may suffer the same fate. The local idiots we call our civic leaders are that close to approving a ban on smoking in bars poolhalls here.
What next, I'll be fined if I stare too intently at the near-perfect breasts on the 22 year-old patrons, who - by the way - is more than happy to let my eyes linger at her bare cleavage?
Madness.
As a former enthusiastic smoker, I have mixed feeling about the smoking ban in bars--I don't mind not being around the stuff, but in the end, a bar and smoking sort of go together, don't they? Too much regulation out there. If you don't want to be around smoking in a bar, go to one that is non-smoking or stay home and drink alone. In the dark. Naked. Lying on soft furs.
Agreed. I'm am fully aware of the dangers of second hand smoke, both to my personal health and the aura of my closet the next day. I also know the downside to eating too much red meat and saturated fat. Still, it's up to me. I don't let the one keep me from enjoying a pint of stout in the company of my friends, and I don't let the other put a damper on a backyard cookout.
In other words, I choose where I want to drink, just as I choose most other things.
If our friend from Chicago has too much red meat, the dangers of second hand smoke are diminutive compared with the danger of second hand meat vapors eminating from his bowels and descending upon our card game.
Come to think of it, nimdok, you're not exactly Julie Andrews with your gaseous rectal residue.
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