Amira K. Makansi - Literary Libations: What to Drink with What You Read

Copyright 2018 by Amira Makansi

Illustrations by Elena Makansi

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Makansi, Amira, author.

Title: Literary libations : what to drink with what you read / Amira Makansi ; illustrations by Elena Makansi.

Description: New York : Skyhorse Publishing, [2018]

Identifiers: LCCN 2018017880| ISBN 9781510736580 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781510736610 (Ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Cocktails. | Drinking of alcoholic beverages. | Drinking of alcoholic beverages in literature. | Popular literature--Bibliography. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX951 .M24 2018 | DDC 641.87/4--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017880

Cover design by Jenny Zemanek

Cover illustration by Elena Makansi

Interior design by Christine Schultz

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3658-0

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3661-0

Printed in China

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

WHY BOOKS AND BOOZE?

If youre at a bookstore looking at this book, odds are youre a person who loves to read, or at least likes to read, or maybe youre pretending you like to read to impress your love interest, or to convince your parents youre not wasting your twenties living in their basement (yes, Mom, I am doing something with my lifereading the entire Western canon counts as something, right?). Or maybe you just picked up Infinite Jest or Underworld and youre already trembling a little from the sheer effort of lifting the damn thing, by now wondering why on earth this bookstore doesnt sell beer. Perhaps you finally picked up your copy of Fifty Shades of Grey (because youre lying to yourself if you dont want to read it) and are dying for a taste of Christian Greys luxurious lifestyle but have no idea where to start beyond handcuffs and hot wax. Or maybe, like me, you suffer from chronic reading anxiety about the fact that this bookstore is really freakin big and theres literally no way you will ever be able to read every book under this roof, even if you wanted to, and are in dire need of an alcoholic beverage or some smelling salts to calm your nerves.

Well, youve come to the right place. Whether impressing a crush, tackling a stupidly long tome like Infinite Jest or Ulysses , or chronically anxious about the vast quantity of reading material in the world, this little text offers the solution to all your literary problems. The answer is booze. Whether drowning your sorrows after a tearjerker like Markus Zusaks The Book Thief or self-medicating your way through Cormac McCarthys The Road , this book offers drink pairing recommendations for more than 150 classic and contemporary novels to get you through the best of times, the worst of times, and the most boring of times. Im looking at you, Jonathan Franzen. (Just kidding. I havent even read your books yet.)

Maybe youve gotten this far into the introduction and youre about to put the book down because youre reading along and thinking, But whats the point, Amira? Why do I need to know what drink goes best with my favorite book? Why cant I just pour myself a shot of vodka and be done with it? That, my friend, is the million-dollar question. And the answer is:

Because booksand boozeare so much more complicated than that. Because a great novel and a great drink both have the power to transport you. Because our memories are stronger when coupled with aromatic experiences. And because a story shared between friends is always better over a pint of beer.

Reading and drinking are both about empathy and connection. Reading allows us to empathize with the characters. Sharing a drink signals that we are in trustworthy company and opens us up to connecting with others. Both involve sharing in another persons experience or culture. Both allow us to deepen connections, experience new things, and relax and enjoy ourselves.

Every pairing in this book has been carefully researched to ensure that the book and the drink are tied together, at least loosely, by some historical or thematic thread. It doesnt make much sense to pair a whiskey drink with a Russian novel, does it? Nor does it make sense to drink champagne with a work of Shakespeareas delightful as it might be to sip bubbly while reading Much Ado About Nothing , champagne literally hadnt been invented when Shakespeare was writing.

For the sake of convenience, the chapters are organized by genre. Love sci-fi? Theres a whole category for you. Prefer your novels esoteric and intellectually elitist? Skip to contemporary literary fiction. Are you under the age of twenty-one? Dont worry, Ive got suggestions for you, too. Hop, skip, or jump to the childrens and young adult pages, where Ive got nonalcoholic pairings for every book listedwith a few boozy suggestions tacked on, because we all know these books arent just for kids.

ON LITERARY GENRES AND CLASSIFICATIONS

All books have been ordered chronologically by publication date within their assigned genres. If you have a complaint about the way Ive categorized the books, or which section a particular book was shelved under, Ive got two words for you: stuff it. In the introduction to Constance Barretts translation of War and Peace , A. N. Wilson simultaneously quotes and criticizes of one Tolstoys early reviewers: It is neither a novel nor a novella, wrote one fool, as though it matters what category you put a book into. I couldnt agree more. By and large, I dont believe that books should be categorized at all, as great books of any kind transcend genre. If you have a problem with any of these categorizations, I advise you to take your pompous literary taxonomy elsewhere.

If, however, you merely wish to understand rather than to judge my system of categorization, with the underlying assumption that great novels straddle and encompass multiple genres, I will say this: my guiding light was whatever the predominant narrative or theme is in the book. Some might wonder why Emily Bronts Wuthering Heights is included in the European Classics section, while her sister Charlottes Jane Eyre is found in the Romance section. This is because Janes relationship with Edward Rochester forms the backbone of Charlottes tale, while Heathcliffs romance with Catherine is short-lived, tempestuous, and serves more to explain how Heathcliff became such a miserable character than to inspire any romantic sentiment. Similarly, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is less a science fiction novel (the science doesnt play a large role, and books could be burned as easily in Bradburys time in as his invented future) than a book about authoritarianism; by contrast, Frankenstein not only uses science fiction as an analogy for hubris but also relies on science fiction for the backbone of the plot.

And if youre wondering why your favorite novel hasnt been included in this volume, then you must go up to the cash register and buy ten copies of this book immediately , so my publisher will commission many more editions and I can advise you what to drink with all your favorite bookssadly omitted in this edition, but certain to be included in forthcoming volumesand we can all live happily ever after.