The Modern Drunkard: A Handbook for Drinking in the 21st Century

This masterpiece has an important subtext: Your time is your own. In an era filled with workaholic boss-kissers toiling 24/7 so some corporation's stock can increase a quarter of a point, it's important for us all to remember that the point of hard work, achievement, fame, and fortune, is the enjoyment of life. Rich's message is the same as the recommendations of the most popular self-help gurus of our era-- be present in the current moment, behave in ways that are consistent with your true values, and all else will fall into place. If alcohol helps you reach these goals, then pursue it with unabashed abandon. Don't harm others and keep the harm to yourself to a minimum, and your joy will increase. The humor improves at blood alcohol concentrations above .04, but the writing is crisp and engaging even for the sober.

I laughed out loud reading this book. It is really good. I particularly like all the geeky 1950s photos in the book. As the author reminds us, drinking has been around since the beginning of history ("Jesus turned water into wine, not the other way around"). FDR used to drink Martini after Martini and Winston Churchill drank heavily. Hitler and his ilk of puritans didn't drink and hated it, thinking that it weakened people. Guess who won ? I like the Glossary of drinking terms a lot "go tard", "kamikazee eyes". I found this book in the "humor" section of the bookstore, and it really is a very, very funny book. If you read this and don't laugh out loud, there is something wrong with you. That, or you just need a couple stiff drinks.

Frank Kelly Rich, the insuperable genius behind Modern Drunkard Magazine, has collected and edited his timeless works in a form for their most efficient use in "The Modern Drunkard Handbook." For those unfamiliar with MDM, this is an excellent introduction. But make no mistake: magazine loyalists also will not be disappointed, for the arrangement of previous works alone is worth the price of this book, as Rich has performed a yeoman's task of assembling a full arsenal of weapons to keep us all well-oiled. Chapters include excellent advice on "how to throw the best party you'll never remember," how to "execute a proper bender," how to coax bartenders (all drunks themselves) to be on your side against bar owner's and management's interests, how to fight off teetotalling do-gooders and fight back at "America's joyless obsession with sobriety." His classic piece on "how to ace an intervention" is both laugh out loud funny and helpful at the same time. Rich's self-written publicity flyer describes "The Modern Drunkard Handbook" in contrast: "This is no hoary collection of cocktail recipes or drinking quotes--it is a full-bore, no-holds-barred guide for drinking in the 21st Century." Rich is taking a woozy ham-fisted swipe at the equally good "The Muse in the Bottle: Great Writers on the Joy of Drinking" by Charles A. Coulombe. The books are entirely different, and equally welcome on the same shelf of unapologetic sauce hounds. For where Coulombe invokes memories of drinking in bygone eras where hunting and chivalry were in flower, covering Waugh, Twain, Irving, Belloc and Chesterton in the same collection with Beowulf, Rich invokes memories of drinking in bygone eras in which Stewardesses were deflowered covering Martin, Sinatra, and Gleason. They are all at the Great Wedding Feast at Cana in the sky now, and dickering about the merits of one past boozy era's superiority over another in combating the faux-Puritanism so prevalent now strikes me as simply the source for another jar and a fruitful discussion, not an attack. Frank Kelly Rich has a prose style that both cuts and astounds. Indeed, at his height he is the equal of the great unsurpassed Florence King in making the literate boozehead laugh out loud. And Rich never breaks character, indeed he is the world's most persuasive sauce hound in his chapters on how to deal with an intervention and issues of drinking and health (hint: it is healthier to drink). But as an added bonus, the illustrations are priceless. Art Deco, Arte Modern, Belle Epoche, and glorious 50's American Commercial Art are all combined in a deft hand that strikes just the right visual tone to accompany the text. Your art geek friends will love its timeless and retro-moderne look. This is an excellent book that should have a widespread and proud audience. It is the perfect Chritmas gift for those who drink their Thanksgiving dinner. Get your copy today, and give "The Modern Drunkard Handbook" to all your friends.

This wondrous book is, in part, a collection of material written by Rich over the years for the Modern Drunkard Magazine, which he publishes and edits. It's more than simply a compilation, however. The material has been grouped and ordered in such a way that once you've swallowed the lot in one long session (which you undoubtably will!) the purpose of your life will be far clearer; to spend it gloriously pie-eyed. Frank Kelly Rich writes beautifully and with utter conviction in his cause. Mucus-snortingly hilarious it might be, but it's also a serious manifesto that the author preaches with unswerving dedication and bar thumping passion. First, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. Second, you owe it to your friends to get them one for Christmas, or any time for that matter. Third, and most importantly, you owe it to any miserable prohibitionist kill-joy you might know. The Modern Drunkard is good enough to convince even them to join the good fight. Rise up, boozehead!

When I ordered this I half expected to get yet another drinking book full of hoary cocktail recipes, beer trivia and those drinking quotes you've seen a thousand times before. But I was very pleasantly suprised to find a completely fresh look at how to Live the Life. It covers very nearly every base, from how to throw a REAL party, to dealing with non-drinkers, to going on a bender. And most important of all, it's freaking hilarious. If you like PJ O'Rourke, you're going to love Frank Rich. Reader's tip: Read it while drinking in a bar.