{"product_id":"martini-straight-up-9781421437675","title":"Martini Straight Up","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally published in 1998. From its contested origins in nineteenth-century California; through its popularity among the smart set of the 1930s, world leaders of the 1940s, and the men in the gray flannel suits of the 1950s; to its resurgence among today's retro-hipsters: Lowell Edmunds traces the history and cultural significance of the cocktail H. L. Mencken called the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhether or not you take your martini as seriously as Lowell Edmunds, this is an admirable account of the drink's place in the American dream.\u003cbr\u003e—Justin Warshaw, \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdmunds seems to have unearthed every reference to the martini since its creation sometime in the 1870s, and by researching recipe books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he has painstakingly reconstructed the actual history of a cocktail swaddled in myth. He tracked down the first shipment of French vermouth to the United States (from Noilly Prat, in 1851). He got the lowdown on Sherwood Anderson's unfortunate death-by-toothpick after drinking a martini. He compiled a list of every martini cartoon ever to appear in the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e. The martini is the last word on cocktails. This book is the last word on the martini.\u003cbr\u003e—William Grimes, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFew drinks achieve such complex and ambiguous symbolism as the martini, and likely few writers could decode it as well as the polished Edmunds . . . Such is the unadorned pleasure of Edmunds's book, its rare scholarly intimacy, that there can be little doubt that he delighted in his fieldwork very much.\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEqual parts academic study, critical appraisal, and love letter, this book sees the martini as the liquid equivalent of jazz—a marvelous and misunderstood American art form . . . Edmunds fashions a convincing theory that places the feisty cocktail at the very heart of American civilization.\u003cbr\u003e—Stephen Whitlock, \u003ci\u003eOut Magazine.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdmunds treats us to a cultural history of the martini, from its origins in the Gilded Age to its 1990s symbolism . . . The drink may be dry, but this book is anything but.\u003cbr\u003e—Lori D. Kranz, \u003ci\u003eBloomsbury Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[Edmunds] brings the rigor and thoroughness of a true scholar to the study of the Martini's place in American culture.\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eWell Fed Network\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003ePreface to the Revised Edition\u003cbr\u003ePreface to the First Edition\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eTime Line. The Martini Decade by Decade\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Simple Messages of the Martini\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMessage One. The Martini is American—it is not European, Asian, or African\u003cbr\u003eMessage Two. The Martini is urban and urbane—it is not rural or rustic\u003cbr\u003eMessage Three. The Martini is a high-status, not a low-status, drink\u003cbr\u003eMessage Four. The Martini is a man's, not a woman's, drink\u003cbr\u003eMessage Five. The Martini is optimistic, not pessimistic\u003cbr\u003eMessgae Six. The Martini is the drink of adults, not of children\u003cbr\u003eMessage Seven. The Martini belongs to the past, not the present\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Simple Messages Reconsidered\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Ambiguities of the Martini\u003cbr\u003eAmbiguity One. The Martini is civilized—the Martini is uncivilized\u003cbr\u003eAmbiguity Two. The Martini unites—the Martini separates\u003cbr\u003eAmbiguity Three. The Martini is classic—the Martini is individual\u003cbr\u003eAmbiguity Four. The Martini is sensitive—the Martini is tough\u003cbr\u003eHistorical Background of the Ambiguities\u003cbr\u003eConclusion\u003cbr\u003eTheory, Method, and Bibliography\u003cbr\u003eAppendix. The Martini Glass\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408137691479,"sku":"9781421437675","price":23.85,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/martini-straight-up-9781421437675","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}