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Loading... Drinking in America: Our Secret Historyby Susan Cheever
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  Daumari | Dec 30, 2017 |   This book includes a lot of fascinating tidbits. For instance, the breed of apples Johnny Appleseed planted were intended for hard cider, not for snacking on. I felt that the sections that covered historical events were stronger than when the author discussed historical people. The author is a recovered alcoholic, as was her dad John Cheever, so at times she was more subjective than necessary -- and while not outright stating that alcohol was evil, she was a tad bit preachy a couple times. With that caveat, I would recommend this book as a good overview on the subject -- it made me want to read more about Prohibition. (  ) ValerieAndBooks | Dec 22, 2017 | jhawn | Jul 31, 2017 | There is much here that I certainly was not aware of and it gave me quite a different perspective on how some of these events and how our culture at large were greatly influenced by our relationship with alcohol and certainly some of the key individuals and their relationship with the same. Definitely a history lesson well worth the time and thought. The book flows through our history, no pun intended, and may even give us some insight into our own relationship with this influential liquid. (  ) knightlight777 | Jun 14, 2016 | SuziQoregon | Feb 25, 2016 | no reviews | add a review
In Drinking in America, bestselling 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 seventeenth to the twentieth century. Seen through the lens of alcoholism, American history takes on a vibrancy and a tragedy missing from many earlier accounts. From the drunkenness of the Pilgrims to Prohibition hijinks, drinking has always been a cherished American custom: a way to celebrate and a way to grieve and a way to take the edge off. At many pivotal points in our history-the illegal Mayflower landing at Cape Cod, the enslavement of African Americans, the McCarthy witch hunts, and the Kennedy assassination, to name only a few-alcohol has acted as a catalyst. Some nations drink more than we do, some drink less, but no other nation has been the drunkest in the world as America was in the 1830s only to outlaw drinking entirely a hundred years later. Both a lively history and an unflinching cultural investigation, Drinking in America unveils the volatile ambivalence within one nation's tumultuous affair with alcohol. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)394.1Social sciences Customs, Etiquette, Folklore General Customs Eating, drinking, using drugsLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.6)
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tl;dr, not the worst book, but probably not in my top 10 for 2016. (