I became interested in bar culture in my 20s when I worked at a neighborhood "local" in Toronto and was struck by how close people could become when sharing drinks and stories across a bar. Since then, I’ve spent most of my life researching the history of cocktails and bars—both as an academic topic and as a columnist for magazines and newspapers, including the Toronto Star. I’ve written a podcast on Prohibition for Wondery Media, as well as four books, Mondo Cocktail, America Walks Into a Bar,Canadian Spirits (with Stephen Beaumont), and the forthcoming Cocktails: A Still Life (Running Press), with James Waller and still-life artist Todd M. Casey.
I wrote...
America Walks Into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies and Grog Shops
Some people dismiss taverns as trivial. Others might argue that saloons are a bad influence. This book re-frames bars as valuable community spaces by exploring the role they’ve played in American history—from the Salem Witch Trials to Stonewall. Even though the United States has an ambivalent relationship with its bars and alcohol—a substance that has been and still can be a destructive force—taverns and saloons have also been key players in many social, cultural and political movements. And, since our local dives are an increasingly endangered species, now is a good moment to consider exactly what we are losing.
One thing I love about this book is that Mansfield fleshes out a beautiful history of a business whose founder genuinely cared for his workers and the community, which is both a refreshing change, as well as a beacon of hope that we can build a more compassionate model. If you’ve ever wondered why people are so loyal to this particular brand of stout and why Guinness is such an important part of Dublin’s history, this will help you understand why. When I read it, I’d never been to Ireland, despite its being high on my bucket list. I finally got there last year and, thanks to this book, I enjoyed sitting in a pub with a pint so much more than I might have, knowing the beer’s amazing back-story.
The history of Guinness, one of the world's most famous brands, reveals the noble heights and generosity of a great family and an innovative business.
The history began in Ireland during the late 1700s when the water in Ireland as well as throughout Europe was famously undrinkable, and the gin and whiskey that took its place was devastating civil society.
It was a disease ridden, starvation plagued, alcoholic age, and Christians like Arthur Guinness, as well as monks and evangelical churches, brewed beer that provided a healthier alternative to the poisonous waters and liquors of the times. This is where…
Although I loved the city of New York more than ever after 9/11, it was sometimes hard to feel optimism and hope about the bigger picture and humanity as a whole in the first several years of the new millennium. This book was one of several things that helped restore my faith, since Moehringer so lovingly portrays the community where he grew up in Long Island—an area profoundly impacted by the attack on the World Trade Center. While I was fact-checking the title, et cetera, I discovered there’s a movie version coming out in early 2022. Obviously I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.
**Now a major film directed by George Clooney and starring Ben Affleck**
'Highly entertaining . . . constructed as skilfully as a drink mixed by the author's Uncle Charlie' New York Times
In the rich tradition of bestselling memoirs about self-invention, The Tender Bar is by turns riveting, moving, and achingly funny. An evocative portrait of one boy's struggle to become a man, it's also a touching depiction of how some men remain lost boys.
JR Moehringer grew up listening for a voice, the voice of his missing father, a DJ who disappeared before JR spoke his first words. As…
I became aware of this book shortly before it was published because Mallory and I were on a radio show together in 2021 to discuss alcohol in the age of COVID. She was bold, radical, funny, and obviously super-smart. So is her book.
I also love that she saw that women had largely been written out of alcohol histories, then went ahead and decided to fix that. Throughout the years, we’ve heard bits and pieces about women being early brewers, distillers, tavern-keepers, and bartenders but, until now, nobody ever dealt with it comprehensively. It was about time.
This is the forgotten history of women making, serving and drinking alcohol. Drink has always been at the centre of social rituals and cultures worldwide-and women have been at the heart of its production and consumption. So when did drinking become gendered? How have patriarchies tried to erase and exclude women from industries they've always led, and how have women fought back? And why are things from bars to whiskey considered 'masculine', when, without women, they might not exist?
With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly…
I’d already read The Victorian Internet by Standage by the time A History of the World in Six Glasses was released, so I had a feeling I would like it before I even cracked it open. Most of my favorite history books are similar to these two—written by a generalist, who has a keen ability to tell a big story and clearly articulate insight into when, how, and why humans changed the way they lived in the past. In this book, he divides up the history of the world according to what people drank and tells us what it means about that era. Great read.
“There aren’t many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history.” ―Los Angeles Times
Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage’s deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. They also represent six eras that span the course of civilization―from the adoption of agriculture, to the birth of cities, to the advent of globalization. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age…
You know how, when you read a book that’s so clever, funny, and perfectly written you want to actually get to know the author? That’s what happened to me when I read this book. Even though I didn’t know him, I knew he’d be the kind of person that you hoped to run into at the bar—a generous man with a great sense of humor, a bright outlook, and plenty of great stories.
We did eventually come to be friends in real life, too. It turned out that we’re practically neighbors and both enjoy the occasional glass of gin. True story.
First published in 2001 to national acclaim, Notes on a Beermat is Nicholas Pashley’s ode to the amber nectar of the gods, a witty meditation on beer and everything that goes with it―from socializing to the solitary pleasures of a beer and a book, to the qualities necessary in a good pub. Most books about beer focus on the beverage itself, how to make it and how to buy it. Notes on a Beermat, the only Canadian book of its kind, explains how to drink beer and why it is absolutely necessary. With characteristic wit and charm, Pashley observes, for…
Tiny Tales is a collection of 365 bite-sized stories and poems, written each day of 2023 to a one-word prompt created by one of the official #vss365 (very short story, 365 days a year) ambassadors on Twitter ("X").
Tweet-sized (280 characters or fewer) storytelling (aka "Twitterature") inspires experimentation and variety, and that is exactly what you'll find in this collection of compositions ranging from true stories to playful limericks, romantic fiction to war-inspired tales, wistful observations from a long-ago childhood to fantastical imaginings of a distant future.
Whether you want to read a story a day or use the prompts (included in their original order at the end of the book) as a springboard to jumpstart your own writing, Tiny Tales will keep you entertained and inspired throughout the year. It is a perfect gift to yourself or for any aspiring or avid writer in your life.
Tiny Tales is a collection of 365 bite-sized stories and poems, written each day of 2023 to a one-word prompt created by one of the official #vss365 (very short story, 365 days a year) ambassadors on Twitter ("X"). Tweet-sized (280 characters or fewer) storytelling (aka "Twitterature") inspires experimentation and variety, and that is exactly what you'll find in this collection of compositions ranging from true stories to playful limericks, romantic fiction to war-inspired tales, wistful observations from a long-ago childhood to fantastical imaginings of a distant future.
Whether you want to read a story a day or use the prompts…
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