A Sidecar Named Desire: Great Writers and the Booze That Stirred Them

by Greg Clarke, Monte Beauchamp

A rollicking illustrated history of alcohol and its literary imbibers, from Jane Austen’s beer brewing to James Joyce’s passion for Guinness to E.B. White’s cure for writers’ block—a dry martini—by celebrated illustrator Greg Clarke and award-winning editor/art director Monte Beauchamp.

“The tools that I need for my trade are simply pen, paper, food, tobacco, and a little whiskey.”

 —William Faulkner 

“I keep a dictionary, a Bible, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry in the room.”

  —Maya Angelou 

“A writer who drinks carefully is probably a better writer.”

  —Stephen King

Throughout history, there has been no greater catalyst for creativity among writers, so they claim, than a good, stiff drink. In this graphic volume, the authors take us on an unforgettable literary bar crawl, packed with historical factoids, anecdotes, booze trivia, and fascinating detours into the lives of our favorite writers, along with literary-themed cocktail recipes such as Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon and Philip Larkin’s Gin and Tonic set to verse.

For the literary-minded drinker, whether wine, gin, vodka, beer, whiskey, or tequila is your elixir of choice, A Sidecar Named Desire will whet your appetite. Bottoms up!

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, History, Books About Books, Food and Drink

191 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2018

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and enjoyable read. Don’t be surprised if you learn new things and want to share interesting factoids about these writers and their drinking habits.

[Raiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estuvo interesante, cuenta como licores han ido de una cultura a otra, parte de su origen e influencias además de escritores que incluyen algunos de estos licores en sus historias o para su proceso creativo (guiño, guiño)

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up a few books for my TBR list, learned about the alcoholic lives of many classic, prolific writers, and learned I need to broaden my alcoholic tastes. Overall an interesting read that will take you to corners of the world into the bars of famous writers, and down an alcoholics spiral path.

[Amalfi Disla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro me gusto bastante, aprendí muchísimo sobre licores, ahora tengo antojo de algunos 😂😂😂 y me gusto como, no solo se habla d ellos autores que tomaban sino, que se mencionan algunas obras donde estas bebidas tuvieron relevancia.

[Zina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Иллюстрированная энциклопедия с пометкой 18+, где одна глава — один вид алкоголя, и все это сопровождается историями про писателей, много и с удовольствием употреблявших. Хемингуэй — герой многих глав (ну, понятно), конечно же Джойс соседствует с виски и пивом, Фицджеральд упивается джином, а ещё встречаются интересные рецепты коктейлей, например, хвойный эль от Джейн Остин. Как по мне, самые крутые главы про мескаль/текилу и абсент (байки, цитаты, любимые писатели), самая познавательная про виски, самая понятная про водку («и немедленно выпил»).

[Jade O'Donohue · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Grog, the archetypal drink of seafarers-and a forerunner of the modern daiquiri-was the 1740 creation of Admiral Edward Vernon of the British Royal Navy. It was essentially rum drink diluted with lime juice, and served as a safeguard against scurvy, the leading cause of naval death between 1500 and 1800.
Grog provided the added benefit of keeping sailors hydrated in the absence of potable water. The name came from the admiral's nickname-"Old Grog," on account of the heavy weatherproof cloak he wore made from grogram, a silk, mohair, and wool material.”

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I paced myself on this book, reading one chapter at a time, which covers wine and beer right on through to a variety of distilled alcohols such as gin and tequila. The history of writers combined with their particular choice of alcohol was quite entertaining, and was illustrated in a fanciful way that added to the facts. This would be a good book to share around a dinner table after certain amounts of alcohol have been consumed.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of booze and the writers which loved them....what could be better?

Picked up this cute, little book and it was my 'bath-time' companion this past week. Covering spirits from wine to rum, you get a quick history of the liquor and then information on the writers which loved them, sometimes loving them way too much.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a good martini, dry and satisfying.
The illustrations are the gin to the text’s tonic and lime. Or maybe they’re the rum to the cola. Or perhaps.... oh, just give me another and make it a double....

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little book that begins each chapter with a short history of the alcoholic beverage and continues with vignettes of famous writers and their relationship to the drink being covered. That relationship is often revealed in writing as their characters use the drink.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and quick read about famous writers and the drinks they loved. Ironically, the writing itself doesn't rise much above a Wikipedia entry, but there are good stories about the escapades authors got up to when imbibing (don't play the William Tell game with William Burroughs).

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just plain fun! As someone who loves his whiskey and writing... it was a sure hit with me! Great insightful stories behind the writers and their booze... and good recipes to boot!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and entertaining read resulting in both books and beverages which I will be enjoying in the coming weeks.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and quick read.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a word…fun. 🙂

[Shreya Kashyap]

So I realised that it was NOT a streetcar named desire, but that's on me and my dumbass. It was a quick fun read once I realised my mistake.

[Hayley Twyman Brack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun candy read that honest to goodness inspired me to write more, with or without the booze.

[Meredith G Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Fun and Informative Read

This book is breeze to read and an interesting look at some old favorites (Millay, for example) from a really specialized perspective.

As a heavy reader of American writes, I found much of this book quite "surface." I mean , you can get most of that Hemingway stuff from a passable tv biography. I would have actually liked the book to be about twice as long, to feature more quotes, and to cover some more obscure authors/dig deeper into the favorites.

That said, it was a really easy and interesting book that made me want to revisit some old texts. And have a drink.

[Alifa Saadya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writers and booze... plus a few recipes. This was an interesting take on the subject; my favorite part were the illustrations.