Pie & Whiskey: Writers under the Influence of Butter & Booze

by Kate Lebo (Editor), Samuel Ligon (Editor), Virginia Reeves (Contributor)

"an anthology that’s ... eclectic, drunk and delicious." —The New York Times

If you love pie, whiskey, and good writing, this collection of funny and heartbreaking stories, poems, and recipes serves up a plethora of pleasure.

What happens when good writing is inspired by and served with a slice of pie and a shot of whiskey? Pie & Whiskey is a literary event series started in Spokane, Washington, where the idea was to serve good pie, good whiskey, and good writers reading prose or poetry about pie and whiskey. This collection features the best original work from the series by writers such as Anthony Doerr, Elissa Washuta, Kim Barnes, and more. Proving that good writing is best served with a slice of pie and a shot of whiskey, a smattering of pie recipes and whiskey-centric cocktails are included alongside dozens of surprising, funny, heartbreaking, fantastically written stories and poems by Jess Walter, J Robert Lennon, Kim Barnes, and ML Smoker and more.

Full contributor
Kim Addonizio • Steve Almond • Kim Barnes • Devin Becker • Judy Blunt • Anthony Doerr • Thom Caraway • Elizabeth J. Colen • Debra Magpie Earling • Christopher Howell • Sherrie Flick • Jacob H. Fries • Nina Mukerjee Furstenau • Margot Kahn • Meissa Kwasny • Kate Lebo • J. Robert Lennon • Samuel Ligon • Gary Copeland Lilley • Robert Lopez • Tod Marshall • Virginia Reeves • Laura Read • Paisley Rekdal • Nicole Sheets • M. L. Smoker • Alexandra Teague • Rachel Toor • Robert Wrigley • Ed Skoog • Jess Walter • Shawn Vestal • Elissa Washuta • Joe Wilkins • Nance Van Winckel • Kristen Millares Young • Maya Jewell Zeller

Genres: Short Stories, Food, Poetry, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Food and Drink, Cookbooks

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2017

About the author

Kate Lebo's first collection of nonfiction, The Book of Difficult Fruit, was published by FSG and Picador in April 2021. She is the author of the cookbook Pie School (Sasquatch Books), the poetry chapbook Seven Prayers to Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Entre Rios Books), and co-editor with Samuel Ligon of Pie & Whiskey: Writers Under the Influence of Butter and Booze (Sasquatch Books). Her essay about listening through hearing loss, “The Loudproof Room,” originally published in New England Review, was anthologized in Best American Essays 2015.

Her poems and essays have appeared in This is the Place: Women Writing About Home, Ghosts of Seattle Past, Best New Poets, Gettysburg Review, Willow Springs, Moss, Catapult, and Poetry Northwest, among other places.

Through the Center for Washington Cultural Traditions she is an apprenticed cheesemaker to Lora Lea Misterly of Quillisascut Farm. She lives in Spokane, Washington.

Reviews

[Philip Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This! And every. Thing. About. This. You don't have to like Pie or Whiskey (for those 3 of you that I know who don't). Or you can like just one. Or the other. And it still doesn't matter. Because this right here is your perfect 2017 holiday gift for every one on your list, including yourself. And... when you run out of money this year, it'll be around for every future holiday and gift giving occasion.

What I mean by all of that is that in this anthology there is a tale, a poem, a roil, a rile, a rant, and a recipe for every kind of human you know. Even the ones who can barely read or don't want to. I mean that. I challenge you to get yours and tell me the kind of human who wouldn't find something in this book for them. I'll wait...

And while you are trying to detract my assertions, have fun. I guarantee you will. Think. I guarantee you will. Laugh. I guarantee you will. And go ahead with that inclination you are having in your mind while you are trying to disapprove me, the one with the little voice that is telling you to call your best friend, or partner, or family member, or tap that stranger on the bus and say, "Hey, you gotta minute? I want to read this to you. Real quick. You're gonna love it!" Go ahead and do that. Because I did. And every one of those people, whether I knew them or even liked them or not, did love what I read aloud to them.

That's what kind of book this is. Something for everyone. And something that will make friends, influence people, or just make you feel closer to all the strangers in the world.

Do it. You're welcome!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lebo and Ligon have been hosting raucous, celebratory literary events featuring pie, whiskey, and readings of short pie-and-whiskey-inspired works by local authors for over five years. Gathered here are a selection of those short stories, essays, poems, and pie recipes. Something for everyone to love.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging and entertaining collection of stories, essays, and poetry, plus some pretty great looking pie recipes. Standouts for me were stories by Jess Walter and Steve Almond and a poem by Devin Becker. Enjoyable even if you aren't bursting with hometown pride every time you see it. Bonus points for a great cover, but my copy had some printing issues (blank pages, right in the middle of a story!)

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

A collection of short stories, poems, “recipes”, and excerpts that mention pie or whiskey.

The recipes were uninteresting as were the fake “story” recipes that accompanied. Most of the stories in general were over written and oddly overlapping. It was as though the group of writers tried to be creative and yet all landed on the same note after having never found any literary success. Almost all of the writers were a bit egocentric and in love with their own voice; capable of writing from their own life only.

That all said, there were two very good short stories in the entire book.

No, it’s not worth reading just for those two but if you do get stuck with this (goodness know how it was even published) know that you will have two decent stories to look forward to.

Drink up! You’ll need it.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pie. Whiskey. Let’s just stop and savor those thoughts for a moment. This collection of stories and poems came out of the Pie and Whiskey reading series the editors started in Seattle. They supplied prompts related to pie and whiskey, then invited the writers to come read what they had written. As they listened, the audience nibbled on pie and sipped whiskey, not enough to get plastered, just enough to feel good. Now we have this book. It’s so delicious I was going to buy copies for everyone on my Christmas list, but some of the stories get a little naughty and use words that might offend. I say deal with it, but my relationship with the family is complicated enough. Anyway, when I read an anthology, I circle the page numbers of the pieces I like. Pretty soon I was circling everything in this book. We’ve got someone trying to make a Martha Washington Pie that includes every type of wild game and would probably be six feet across. We’ve got a couple considering divorce over pie, we’ve got wicked stepchildren getting around their teetotalling stepmother’s prohibitions by mixing booze into every dish they bring for Thanksgiving, including a chocolate pecan whiskey pie that never sets, so they just drink it. We’ve got pies that bring back memories of special times, of wonderful cooks and horrible ones. And we’ve got recipes for both drinks and pies, some of them not quite serious, we hope. For example, while making The Lonely Martha cocktail, basically a Manhattan, we are instructed to shoot anyone who insists the drink must be served “up.” This book is a delight, from its bright blue and orange cover to its Pie School Pastry Crust. Up or over ice, I don’t care. Just have some.

[Iris Graville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be under the influence of this book for a long time to come! The collection of recipes and pie and whiskey-influenced writing is fun, inspiring, and mouth-watering. I’ll keep returning to it for the essays and short stories by accomplished Pacific Northwest writers and the cocktail and pie ideas. Makes me want to have such an event in my community, and Lebo and Ligon give tips about how to do that, too!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pie & Whiskey" was loads of fun. Taken from live readings featuring the title ingredients, it captures the essence of creative writing and conveys the joy of sharing it with others. Make me think of trying my hand again at writing. The collection here is a mixed bag with a few that left me scratching my head, but most very good. For a while I wasn't sure why it wasn't called Pie & Whiskey & Sex.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not an anthology fanatic but this was a delightful read by local (to my area) authors which I found to be lovely, although I was surprised how often Iowa came up. If you're looking for something to get you out of a reading rut this is a delight!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice, Kate
Pie as ever
Pie taste better after church with brandied coffee--

[Neghena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a must if you love poetry and fun narratives.

[Elenore Figg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be a bit on the boring side.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd little book. Probably of most interest to those who participated in the event itself.

[Douglas]

A fun collection to read. Humor also deeply infused in the drink and pie recipes.

[Julie Richert-Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

As so often happens, I ordered this book in a fever after hearing a delightful interview on Public Radio. . .Completely BESOTTED by the notion of the pie and whiskey literary events and feeling that old stirring of ambition to create outlets for people and their literary yearnings. An excellent reminder of the short story genre in all its glory of form and surprises. Many of these writers are impossibly funny which perhaps also speaks to what I was hungry for.