The Joy of Drinking - Hardcover

"Impressive...Holland has a light, winsome tourch and is always funny."--New York Times

"With a style as witty, practical and Triple Sec as M.F.K. Fisher's, Holland's "The Joy of Drinking" grows from a hilarious ancient-history lesson into a compulsively readable mini-mosaic of humans and our various fermented tipples." --Los Angeles Times

"Holland, a prolific and wide-ranging writer, distills a considerable tonnage of fact and trivia into this casual, shot-sized volume...She has a breezy, whimsical style, perfectly suited to her swift romp across the histories and cultures of alcohol down through the ages." --Publishers Weekly

"Mixing fact, fable, anecdote, and personal opinion with irresistible panache, cultural historian Barbara Holland's The Joy of Drinking distills thousands of years of humankind's lusty relationship with alcohol--made from fermented honey, hops, grapes, grains, and even mare's milk--into a slim, sparkling history that covers all manner of blithe spirits, from lowly beer, 'the cornerstone of civilization,' to the vaunted martini, aka 'Fred Astaire in a glass.'" --Elle Praise for the national bestseller When All the World Was Young:"A wise, funny, haunting and thoroughly grown-up book."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World
"Beautifully written...sharply detailed recollections...compelling, both touching and funny. Holland writes with breezy elegance and a sly wit."--New York Times Book Review
"Imagine Lauren Bacall narrating Tristram Shandy...Leisurely and rich as a long, steamy summer day."--Chicago Tribune
"Richly detailed, droll, and very human. She could be our E. B. White."--Washingtonian (a Best Book of 2004)
"The word charming could have been coined just so it could be ascribed to Holland."--Booklist
"A smart coming-of-age text...an acute narrative of how the clever Holland came to be so writerly."--Kirkus Reviews