In love with hell : drink in the lives and work of eleven writers / William Palmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Palmer, William, 1945- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors, English--Alcohol use.

Authors, English.

Authors, American--Alcohol use.

Authors, American.

English literature--History and criticism.

English literature.

American literature--History and criticism.

American literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

262 pages: illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Robinson, 2021.

Summary:

"Why do some writers destroy themselves by drinking alcohol? Before our health-conscious age it would be true to say that many writers drank what we now regard as excessive amounts. Graham Greene, for instance, drank on a daily basis quantities of spirits and wine and beer most doctors would consider as being dangerous to his health. But he was rarely out of control and lived with his considerable wits intact to the age of eighty-six. W. H. Auden drank the most of a bottle of spirits a day, but also worked hard and steadily every day until his death. Even T. S. Eliot, for all his pontifical demeanour, was extremely fond of gin and was once observed completely drunk on a London Tube station by a startled friend. These were not writers who are generally regarded as alcoholics. 'Alcoholic' is, in any case, a slippery word, as exemplified by Dylan Thomas's definition of an alcoholic as 'someone you dislike who drinks as much as you.' The word is still controversial and often misunderstood and misapplied. What acclaimed novelist and poet William Palmer's book is interested in is the effect that heavy drinking had on writers, how they lived with it and were sometimes destroyed by it, and how they described the whole private and social world of the drinker in their work"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. `The feverish magic that alcohol can work': Patrick Hamilton

2. `As soon as I sober up I start again': Jean Rhys

3. `Delirium is a disease of the night': Charles Jackson

4. `I love hell. I can't wait to get back there': Malcolm Lowry

5. `A womb with a view': Dylan Thomas

6. `I will not drink': Elizabeth Bishop

7. `The singing of the bottles in the pantry': John Cheever

8. `A pint of plain is your only man': Flann O'Brien

9. `Writing is an agony mitigated by drink': Anthony Burgess

10. `That's an interesting fridge you have there': Kingsley Amis

11. The Road to Revolutionary Road: Richard Yates.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-249) and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

1472145003

9781472145000

1472145011

9781472145017

OCLC:

1144088887