Description
Book SynopsisAttempts to approach the topic of drink and literature and the question of how far this is interconnected with the habits of the writers can be considered within the wider frame of what is called drinking studies. This is an interdisciplinary field which is a composite of numerous facets, the common denominator being the analysis of how drink has functioned and functions in the lives of individuals and communities, taking into consideration diverse contexts, perspectives and backgrounds connected with alcohol consumption (or abuse). Among numerous examinations within the field of drinking studies, the province of literary criticism offers interesting insights. Any critical debate in this respect inevitably focuses on two areas, the first one being the study of literature per se; the other encompasses the writers’ lives and the extent to which their drinking affects their writing. Thus, the perspective can be critical, biographical, or both, reflecting what is often referred to as life-writing, or self-writing. In some instances, one might even risk calling it inspirational writing, and in these cases, one needs to debate the question of how alcohol as a source of inspiration – or ‘booze as a muse’ – is perceived.
Table of ContentsMartini vs. Grappa: The Functions of Alcohol in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms
Neutralizing Anxiety in Europe – Expatriation and Alcohol in Hemingway’s Short Stories
Drinking with Dazai: From Being Spun to Becoming Non- Human
James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, and the Viennese Boozer Known as “Lieber Augustin”
Drinking an Identity: The Nature of Addiction in Peter Hajnoczy’s Death Rode out from Persia
“Ballade of Good Whisky”: Scottish uisge beatha in Literature
Lawrence Osborne: Boozehound’s Travelogues
Harnessing the Spirit: An Examination of Alcohol’s Inspirational Role in Creative Writing
The Rimbaud of Cwmdonkin Drive: Dylan Thomas and the Legend of the Drunken Bard
“Sherry or Vodka Martini?”: Kingsley Amis’s Plunge into Spy Fiction Spirit
Wanderings of an Irish Drunkard? Alcohol and Self- Staging in Brendan Behan’s Confessions of an Irish Rebel
The Role of Alcohol in After the Dance, Long Day’s Journey into Night, and Straight White Male
