Part of the ‘Everyman’s Pocket Classics’ series of themed
volumes, ‘Shaken and Stirred’ is a collection of stories about drinking. The
volume features authors of the last two centuries, and includes Dickens, Twain,
P.G. Wodehouse (my favorite in the book), F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vladimir Nabokov
and many more. Some stories are light and funny, but, as can happen in real
life, alcohol leads to sorrow- or at least, unhappiness- in many of them.
Because of this, I found it hard to read the book for very long at a time; the
unhappy circumstances of many of the characters got to me. I know too many
people in real life who have had their lives made miserable by alcohol. I was
expecting something more light-hearted, in the vein of Wodehouse’s Jeeves
entry. A good book, but read it in small doses. It’s a lovely little volume,
with a delightful cover illustration and a ribbon bound in for keeping one’s place.
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Neither of these things affected my review.
Sounds like there are some cautionary tales. The list of authors would make me want to give it a try though.
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