On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:36:07 EDT you wrote:
>
> I finally read When The Sacred Gin Mill Closes. Most
of you already know
> that Block's novel is many things in addition to a
great crime story. It has
> to be one of the all time drinking books.
Coincidentally, I also recently
> reread The Thin Man, another novel where drinking
has an important role,
> written by a person who apparently knew what he was
talking about. I recall
> that a good chunk of Crumley's The Last Good Kiss
takes place in bars. Any
> other alcohol-soaked tales you would recommend? I
must be interested because
> a bout with a virus has put me on the wagon for a
couple of weeks.
> Manuel Ramos
I just read Greshem's Nightmare Alley, which begins and ends
with a geek, defined in the book as an alchy so desperate he
will become a carny animal (like a
"monkey man") who eats live animals, etc., for his daily
dose. It's an excellent study in degeneration, interpreted
from a Freudian perspective. (One of the few novels where an
Oedipus Complex is thoroughly and convincingly worked through
too.)
Other titles to look at:
Charles Jackson's The Lost Weekend is a famous title from the
40s; Billy Wilder made into a good film starring Ray Milland.
But both will seem dated in some respects.
The classic alcoholic novel, for my money, is Under the
Volcano by Malcolm Lowry, though it's not a crime novel. It's
a great Joycean feast, the last day in the life of an English
(ex-)consul in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, late
1930s.
Believe there are a few studies of alcoholism in literature
too, but no titles come to mind except Linda Leonard's
Witness to the Fire, which is about the larger subject of
addiction & creativity.
Bill Hagen
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