Kevin Kizer's Reviews > Everyday Drinking

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I'd heard about this book for years and finally got down to reading it. It's easy to see where Martin Amis got his wit. Kingsley intersperses hilarious alcohol-related short stories, along with his own well-tested recipes – some named after his famous novels, like “Lucky Jim,” and others named after friends, like “Evelyn Waugh’s Noonday Reviver” – and rather helpful musings on subjects like The Hangover (“a piece of selfless research, undertaken by a pioneer”), The Boozing Man’s Diet, What to Drink with What, and How Not to Get Drunk. It's a great primer for those wanting to learn more about wine, beer and spirits, complete with a massive test at the end. Some of my favorite quotes:
On hangovers:
"The abolition of the hangover would have far-reaching and perhaps dangerous effects on our civilization; a great restraining influence would be gone."
"If the old, grey cloud no longer vanishes as if by magic at the first touch of alcohol, as it once did, you know that middle age is upon you."
And, the two sure cures for a hangover: "Half an hour in an open aeroplane and a stint at the coal face on the early shift."

On tequila:
"It's a white spirit made from a tropical plant that sometimes gets called a cactus, though consensus seems to be that it isn't a cactus, though very like one. There we are, then."

When BSing your way around a wine list:
"If this goes wrong, say suddenly, 'I don't suppose any of you chaps have seen last year's French government report on wine manufacture?' Which is pretty safe, since there wasn't one."