Hello Brad, and the rest of the list, Here are some examples from Latin America: Mariano Azuela, *The Underdogs* José Joaquin Fernández de Lizardi, *The Mangy Parrot* Graham Greene, *The Power and the Glory* Malcolm Lowry, *Under the Volcano* Clorinda Matto de Turner, *Torn from the Nest* Gretchen Pierce On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Bradley Kadel <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Given our round table last month on writers and alcohol, I thought the > following from Brian McDonald<http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/author/brian-mcdonald/> might > be of particular interest. Be sure to look at the comments, for you'll find > many more suggestions of titles wherein alcohol plays a prominent role, > as the author's trusty muse or the subject for exploration through > characters and places. > > > http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/under-the-literary-influence/?emc=eta1http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/under-the-literary-influence/?emc=eta1 > > Would it be too much to ask list members for their own favorite authors and > titles? > > For my part, I don't think anyone in the twentieth century described gritty > barroom intoxication better than James Farrell, especially in the last > volume of his Studs Lonnigan trilogy. Of course Farrell's writing is quite > dark, and certainly the tone of most writers describing drunkenness shifts > considerably by the early 1960s. Ideas? > > Brad Kadel > Fayetteville State University > > ************************************************* > > A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world. That means > trying to understand, take in, connect with, what wickedness human beings > are capable of; and not be corrupted - made cynical, superficial - by this > understanding. > > Literature can tell us what the world is like. > > Literature can give us standards and pass on deep knowledge, incarnated in > language, in narrative. > > Literature can train, and exercise, our ability to weep for those who are > not us or ours. > > > From Susan Sontag's acceptance speech on the occasion of being awarded the > Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels, > the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. > > > > > -- Gretchen Pierce, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor Latin American History Northern Illinois University