All: Detective heroes who are recovering alcoholics (and members of AA): Lawrence Block has the main character Matt Scudder and James Lee Burke has Dave Robicheaux. Both are prolific authors. Block's When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes sets the stage for Matt Scudder's joining AA and getting sober. But before the end of the book he really hammers 'em back. (I have a paper on these two characters on my UWSP Web page.) Univ. of Wisconsin -Stevens Point http://www.uwsp.edu/comm/faculty/rdubiel/index.shtm Rich Dubiel [log in to unmask] From: Alcohol and Drugs Historhttp://www.uwsp.edu/comm/faculty/rdubiel/index.shtmy Society [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Malleck Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:51 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Under the Literary Influence Being terribly neurotic, I try to steer clear of blatantly alcohol and drug related literature for my personal reading. Nevertheless, there is a section of Ann-Marie Macdonald's Fall on your knees (1997) that is particularly memorable for me. The book is an epic story about a poor family in Nova Scotia, beginning in the early part of the 20th century. For one section, a young girl in the family becomes an entertainer at a backwoods blind pig during prohibition. Macdonald's ability to describe what seemed to me to be a likely much more realistic impression of the rough backwoods illegal drinking space altered my perception of illegal drinking during prohibition. Later the story moves to Harlem during the 20s and 30s, but the blind pig is my favourite bit. She's a brilliant writer in any case, but this is especially evocative for those of us who are preoccupied, one way or another (or in many ways), with alcohol and drugs. Dan Malleck At 05:09 PM 2/21/2009, Bradley Kadel 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. Dan Malleck, PhD Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Editor-in-chief, Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: An Interdisciplinary Journal http://historyofalcoholanddrugs.typepad.com<http://historyofalcoholanddrugs.typepad.com/> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any attachments, may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by e-mail and immediately delete this message and its contents, and then find someone to blame. Thank you.