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The Joy of Drinking
With characteristic elegance and delicious wit, Barbara Holland, ("a national treasure,"― Philadelphia Inquirer ) celebrates the age-old act of drinking in this gimlet-eyed survey of man's relationship with booze, since the joyful discovery, ten thousand years ago, of fermented fruits and grains. In this spirited paean to alcohol, two parts cultural history, one part personal meditation, Holland takes readers on a bacchanalian romp through the Fertile Crescent, the Mermaid Tavern, Plymouth Rock, and Capitol Hill and reveals, as Faulkner famously once said, how civilization indeed begins with fermentation. Filled with tasty tidbits about distillers, bootleggers, taverns, hangovers, and Alcoholics Anonymous, The Joy of Drinking is a fascinating portrait of the world of pleasures fermented and distilled.
150 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2007
14 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Holland
56 books58 followersBarbara Murray Holland was an American author who wrote in defense of such modern-day vices as cursing, drinking, eating fatty food and smoking cigarettes, as well as a memoir of her time spent growing up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 7, 2011
I picked this up at the library because it looked cute. It was hilarious. Holland's authorial tone is wry and wonderful. The book is sort of an overview of alcohol's history, but Holland dips and lingers in a wholly whimsical fashion, and ends with directions for building a still, which item has been on my darling's wish list since I've known him.
It gets progressively funnier as it moves forward in time. I enjoyed it mightily, and can't resist sharing a snippet about the new beer snobs that made me guffaw:
"Former beer joints gone classy offer beer tastings in little sample glasses for the educated palate. [...] Its customers are quite, quite different from sweaty Joe Six-Pack with his canned Budweiser. They're discriminating experts of an entirely different social class with an entirely different agenda.
Of course drinking, old-fashioned drinking, is still unwholesome, still bad for the body if not the actual soul, but fortunately, what they're doing isn't drinking at all. They aren't drinkers. They're connoisseurs and critics, priests of ritual, sniffers and tasters, discerning scholars scowling thoughtfully into their glass. Fun has nothing to do with it and they never break into song."
It gets progressively funnier as it moves forward in time. I enjoyed it mightily, and can't resist sharing a snippet about the new beer snobs that made me guffaw:
"Former beer joints gone classy offer beer tastings in little sample glasses for the educated palate. [...] Its customers are quite, quite different from sweaty Joe Six-Pack with his canned Budweiser. They're discriminating experts of an entirely different social class with an entirely different agenda.
Of course drinking, old-fashioned drinking, is still unwholesome, still bad for the body if not the actual soul, but fortunately, what they're doing isn't drinking at all. They aren't drinkers. They're connoisseurs and critics, priests of ritual, sniffers and tasters, discerning scholars scowling thoughtfully into their glass. Fun has nothing to do with it and they never break into song."
January 15, 2018
This is a funny little book that could just as easily have been called "The History of Drinking". It starts out with nomads drinking fermented camel's milk and makes its way through ciders and fruit wines as people settled down and began to tend orchards. It talks about gin's reputation in England and moves on to the production of vodka and whiskey. It talks about public perception of drink as dangerous to the working classes (it leads to decreased productivity, don't you know...) and as something to be winked at when indulged in to excess by the upper classes. The author is delightfully opinionated, and I thought that her sarcasm was as much fun as anything in the book.
January 6, 2025
Dość mętna, chociaż można dowiedzieć się kilku smaczków
July 6, 2007
This is a bit of a disappointment, but I think I was expecting a funny version of A History of the World in Six Glasses. Instead, I received an alcoholic's view of history...which I was more than happy to read.
The insights were few and far between, and the book read more like Barb's view of what happened throughout the saga of sinful drinks. She paid a little bit too much attention to Americans' special relationship with liquor, but it never really got bad.
Her focus was off and the narrative thread suffered as a result. She would write a paragraph about the historical significance of beer in Puritan New England and then end with a quip about alcoholic Indians. The book was funny, but not hysterical; informative, but not educational.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a GREAT book. It's a quick read, it's good for what it is, but after read Standage's work, it just seems underpar. She certainly did her research, but when it came to entertaining the reader, she simply phoned it in.
The insights were few and far between, and the book read more like Barb's view of what happened throughout the saga of sinful drinks. She paid a little bit too much attention to Americans' special relationship with liquor, but it never really got bad.
Her focus was off and the narrative thread suffered as a result. She would write a paragraph about the historical significance of beer in Puritan New England and then end with a quip about alcoholic Indians. The book was funny, but not hysterical; informative, but not educational.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a GREAT book. It's a quick read, it's good for what it is, but after read Standage's work, it just seems underpar. She certainly did her research, but when it came to entertaining the reader, she simply phoned it in.
August 8, 2018
As a good garden-variety drunk, my first instinct was to make myself look even more defiantly distinguished by squeezing this tiny paddle between "50 Ways to Eat Ass" and The Sopranos collection on my shelf. I drink, therefore I read. It's a great combination of hobbies. Especially since I found it in the dollar bin. Apparently, all the upper-class Scot pricks in my neighborhood would rather be caught digging up their grandma than purchasing "The Joy of Drinking" at their local bookshop. But I don't give a liquid shit. I'm buying it, aren't I? You ain't judging. 'Twas a steal.
So I went home and cracked it open. Not the book, another bottle. The book sat on my vanity and acted as a coaster for a good three months before I realized I had no more friends. So I finally started reading. And I have to say, I dug the style. It's a dry East Coast prose. Holland has a keen taste for various strains of alcohol and what they mean to people. She also mourns the death of drink as socially acceptable, at least in the States. Nowadays, drinking more than a glass of wine with your chicken vesuvio is sure to ruffle the feathers of your upstanding moral family. Look forward to climbing mountains and singing around the campfire with a junkie cult for three months. Honestly, I quite wish Holland was more cynical and detached in her appraisal. A few gut-punches wouldn't hurt any more than the tequila. But I'll admit she likely has far more class than me.
Having said that, I enjoyed the idea of the book more than the book itself. There just isn't much joy to be found in the storytelling. Instead, we get a vague history of each drink with no real characters, no sense of place. Often times it feels like Holland is listing off names and dates when she should be letting loose with the booze shakes.
It's almost as if the author is missing the point of what makes drinking fun. It actually has little to do with the beverage. It's the drunks you surround yourself with. Misery loves company, and the fact is drinking alone is pretty much devoid of joy in most cases. If you're looking for a more objective narrative of human history in your cocktail stories, this will do the trick. At only 120 pages, it did sometimes feel like a long drag off a cheap menthol.
But I won't be too hard on the book. After all, it cost me less than a can of PBR.
So I went home and cracked it open. Not the book, another bottle. The book sat on my vanity and acted as a coaster for a good three months before I realized I had no more friends. So I finally started reading. And I have to say, I dug the style. It's a dry East Coast prose. Holland has a keen taste for various strains of alcohol and what they mean to people. She also mourns the death of drink as socially acceptable, at least in the States. Nowadays, drinking more than a glass of wine with your chicken vesuvio is sure to ruffle the feathers of your upstanding moral family. Look forward to climbing mountains and singing around the campfire with a junkie cult for three months. Honestly, I quite wish Holland was more cynical and detached in her appraisal. A few gut-punches wouldn't hurt any more than the tequila. But I'll admit she likely has far more class than me.
Having said that, I enjoyed the idea of the book more than the book itself. There just isn't much joy to be found in the storytelling. Instead, we get a vague history of each drink with no real characters, no sense of place. Often times it feels like Holland is listing off names and dates when she should be letting loose with the booze shakes.
It's almost as if the author is missing the point of what makes drinking fun. It actually has little to do with the beverage. It's the drunks you surround yourself with. Misery loves company, and the fact is drinking alone is pretty much devoid of joy in most cases. If you're looking for a more objective narrative of human history in your cocktail stories, this will do the trick. At only 120 pages, it did sometimes feel like a long drag off a cheap menthol.
But I won't be too hard on the book. After all, it cost me less than a can of PBR.
February 26, 2023
Didn’t finish it. There were some not so subtle racist remarks. You can’t say “travelled so far into Africa that the civilizations barely resembled people”. There were other sentences that I did not feel comfortable with. Don’t recommend reading this book.
April 13, 2020
An insightful book into some of the traditions and myths around drinks - fave parts were some of the poems that opened the chapters!
November 18, 2024
3.5 very enjoyable read. want to read more by her...she's bright and amusing with a fun take on things.
July 25, 2025
If you drink, you can't help but love Barbara Holland - nor if you have a foul mouth, love taking the piss, and like to sleep in. She's your soul sister!
August 19, 2015
I picked this book up because it was thin and about something I like to do: drink.
The beginning started out okay. I never jived with Holland's writing style; it sounded too much like my elderly coworker preaching one of her stories that need to be taken with a grain of salt. But the history of alcohol kept my interest enough, even with the erratic timelines and the incredibly brief context-setting.
The middle started getting bogged down with Holland's nostalgia for times that likely never actually existed (Hollywood-style wild-west saloons and 50's husband-wife interactions), rants against anything besides bars and taverns forming social bonds in communities, and her flagrant dismissal of the actual bad things that accompany too much drinking.
The book ended with a preachy diatribe against people enjoying variety in their beers/wines/liquors because don't they know that alcohol is meant to get you drunk, not to be enjoyed?
Overall the book is light on history, heavy on opinion, and focuses almost exclusively on America and the UK. Personally, I think this book should've been and remained a random blog post on a tiny corner of the Internet.
The beginning started out okay. I never jived with Holland's writing style; it sounded too much like my elderly coworker preaching one of her stories that need to be taken with a grain of salt. But the history of alcohol kept my interest enough, even with the erratic timelines and the incredibly brief context-setting.
The middle started getting bogged down with Holland's nostalgia for times that likely never actually existed (Hollywood-style wild-west saloons and 50's husband-wife interactions), rants against anything besides bars and taverns forming social bonds in communities, and her flagrant dismissal of the actual bad things that accompany too much drinking.
The book ended with a preachy diatribe against people enjoying variety in their beers/wines/liquors because don't they know that alcohol is meant to get you drunk, not to be enjoyed?
Overall the book is light on history, heavy on opinion, and focuses almost exclusively on America and the UK. Personally, I think this book should've been and remained a random blog post on a tiny corner of the Internet.
August 22, 2020
A thoroughly entertaining and educational little tome dedicated to the pleasures of alcohol: from the arabic al-kohol, or "the powder", denoting a woman's eye liner (it's complicated); it has been established that our ancestors discovered the process of creating this precious substance about 10,000 years ago, apparently all over the globe at about the same time, and the world has been the better for it ever since.
Among the fascinating elucidating details contained herein, we learn that, "In colonial America taverns were often built next to courthouses, and settling a matter 'out of court' meant that everyone repaired next door to talk it over." And in 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president upon a promise to repeal prohibition; "In 1933...Roosevelt was elected and, being fond of a nice martini himself, got the Volstead Act repealed and broke out the cocktail shaker." No wonder the man was re-elected so many times!
I am put in mind of the commentary of H.L. Mencken, the sage of Baltimore, "A prohibitionist is the sort of man one couldn't care to drink with, even if he drank." I'll raise a glass to that!
Among the fascinating elucidating details contained herein, we learn that, "In colonial America taverns were often built next to courthouses, and settling a matter 'out of court' meant that everyone repaired next door to talk it over." And in 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president upon a promise to repeal prohibition; "In 1933...Roosevelt was elected and, being fond of a nice martini himself, got the Volstead Act repealed and broke out the cocktail shaker." No wonder the man was re-elected so many times!
I am put in mind of the commentary of H.L. Mencken, the sage of Baltimore, "A prohibitionist is the sort of man one couldn't care to drink with, even if he drank." I'll raise a glass to that!
July 28, 2007
The author seems sort of fast and loose with her facts. She certainly cherry picks them to make her points. But this isn't a serious book, so I gave that a pass. It's a quick, fun, light-hearted read.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't drink or has had a close friend or family member suffer because of alcoholism. I doubt such a person would pick this up off a shelf anyway, but if they did they would probably find it offensive. She is dismissive of alcoholism as a "disease" and pokes fun at AA. I found it sort of refreshing, but I could imagine someone else getting really upset about it.
As far as the big problem with drunkenness-- drunk driving-- she fully puts the blame on cars. She thinks getting loaded is in our DNA and cars are the unnatural factor in that deadly equation.
She ends with a chapter on modern day prohibition, i.e. drugs. But she never gets into heavy polemics. It's all just fun.
This would be a good vacation beach read.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't drink or has had a close friend or family member suffer because of alcoholism. I doubt such a person would pick this up off a shelf anyway, but if they did they would probably find it offensive. She is dismissive of alcoholism as a "disease" and pokes fun at AA. I found it sort of refreshing, but I could imagine someone else getting really upset about it.
As far as the big problem with drunkenness-- drunk driving-- she fully puts the blame on cars. She thinks getting loaded is in our DNA and cars are the unnatural factor in that deadly equation.
She ends with a chapter on modern day prohibition, i.e. drugs. But she never gets into heavy polemics. It's all just fun.
This would be a good vacation beach read.
December 27, 2008
This witty coffee table book in miniature is a fun, yet brief, ride through the historic and inexorable connection between alcohol and the human social spirit. Barbara Holland eschews the politically correct, exposing ironies of the sacred bottled water movement but admitting also the futility of dozens of hangover cures. Both the stumbling drunkard in the back alley and the elite wine connoisseur are given their due, taking their deserved places in Holland's pantheon of alcoholic engagers.
While the tone is anecdotal and tongue-in-cheek, Holland's sources are informed and intellectually intriguing. And, for those inspired by the history of moonshine and early American fermentation, the book includes two helpful how-to appendices--one with instructions for making various fruit wines, and the other on "Starting your own Still."
This would make a great gift for the most discerning of drinkers, as long as they have no fear of an author who calls it as she sees it.
While the tone is anecdotal and tongue-in-cheek, Holland's sources are informed and intellectually intriguing. And, for those inspired by the history of moonshine and early American fermentation, the book includes two helpful how-to appendices--one with instructions for making various fruit wines, and the other on "Starting your own Still."
This would make a great gift for the most discerning of drinkers, as long as they have no fear of an author who calls it as she sees it.
Read
July 1, 2007Let me just start by saying that I'm actually a little bit drunk at the moment and trying to sober up some before I pass out so I might avoid the hangover. That being said, I have to admit that I was a bit inspired. The book was entertaining as a light read, though Holland is overly cynical and a little too nostalgic. I would never have gone out of my way to buy it, but I'm not disappointed to have grabbed it for free.
July 24, 2016
A short (as many books on drinking are) but beautifully crafted piece of work on the cultural, social and political history of drink through the ages. With cutting wit and charm she is able to understand the causes of many problems (the unhealthy focus on being healthy) and the solution (you need to sit down and have a convivial drink or several with friends and strangers). Very enjoyable and full of great stories and advice.
February 5, 2008
An amusing book about the history of drinking alcoholic drinks. It begins with the first discoveries of fermentation and ends with the health craze that has been more successful in limiting drinking than any temperance movement ever was. The author hints that we would be a more social society if the "joy of drinking" hadn't been so vilified.
October 3, 2008
This book is chock-full of rare and interesting facts about the history of alcohol, tracing it all the way back to almost the beginning of time (and far before America was America). It would be a lot more interesting though if it were told with some sort of storyline rather than a bazillion factoids all crammed together into a teensy book with little to no transition between sections.
May 18, 2007
Not as informative or comprehensive as "Joy of Cooking," ditto "Joy of Sex," but witty, insightful and well written. How can you argue with Faulkner that "civilization begins with fermentation." Good stuff.
January 8, 2008
I really enjoyed this short, quick read. She gives a wonderfully written, short history of drink. As a previous baptist, it helped to remove the last scintilla of guilt over my Hendricks martini, extra dry, very bruised w/ a twist...
April 17, 2008
Having read and enjoyed nearly all of Ms. Holland's books, I was anxious to read her latest effort. The history lesson was interesting, but overall, the presentation wasn't nearly as amusing or thought-provoking as many of her previous works. Still, a good read.
March 30, 2009
“Adult,” well-written books on drink and drinking are few and far between, so much so that most of them seem to be hailed as classics when they're maybe nothing so special in the grand literary scheme. This slim volume is a modest, brief, inconsequential, yet thoroughly enjoyable read.
April 15, 2013
Light and quick read, maybe a bit too light on the history? It was entertaining. Not much I did not already know, but worth reading for a romp. Booze is one of my favorite things and such an interesting topic, I feel there must be more to know about the history.
April 17, 2013
What a clever book! I read it almost straight through as it was difficult to put down. In spite of the author's assertion that Queen Victoria's tumbler of half-scotch and half-claret is actually not that bad, I'll pass ... ditto on a merlot + 7-Up combo mentioned later.
Definitely recommended!
Definitely recommended!
February 26, 2016
A quick jaunt through the modern history of drinking with a hint of sadness at the decline of the communal pub and the casual drinking atmosphere associated with it. Holland writes with a light, funny touch, making her an excellent guide leaving you a bit sad that the book isn't longer.
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June 14, 2007very entertaining and interesting
July 31, 2007
Good short history of drinking - I had no idea why gin used to be a low-class liquor. A quick entertaining read!
September 3, 2007
I got this book as an advanced copy. I was not disappointed as I had never read any of her previous works. This is a perfect book if you are looking for the history of drinking and alcohol.
September 12, 2007
This book is equal parts history, sociology, bartender guide, memoir. Also funny as hell. Barbara Holland is a writer I want more of.
November 21, 2007
So far, it's completely hilarious and brilliant. If I could afford it, I'd buy a copy for most of my friends. I think Gojiro and Emily in particular would enjoy it.
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August 17, 2008This is NOT what I thought it would be. Dang. I'm not even going to rate it since I only got through the first 'story'.
She does not make drinking sound joyful.
She does not make drinking sound joyful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews