Vintage Humor for Wine Lovers

Malcolm's sense of humor comes through in this book. While most of us might enjoy a good Riesling or Gewürztraminer we are often loath to be associated with the wine-snobs whose terms like "good bouquet" or "naughty wine" make us squirm and we revert to the comforting world of dark beers, ales and Tim "the toolman" Taylor. Malcolm's book shows you that you can enjoy a good wine, have a laugh and have no fear of being marked as pretentious.

This book is brilliantly smart and witty. Besides the written humor, it includes hilarious cartoons about wine from the New Yorker. I would recommend this book to anyone from the average wine drinker to the most knowledgeable of wine connoisseurs.

A friend gave us a copy as a hostess gift when he visited and we love the book.

Bubbling over like champagne, as wicked as Brie and chocolate-covered strawberries, Malcolm Kushner's marvelous humor book on wine demands to be sniffed, sipped, and imbibed with pleasure. Drinking in this book on wine will make you feel tipsy without the consequences. As Kushner says in the section Everything I Know I Learned from Drinking Wine: A loaded person is more dangerous than a loaded gun. That said, a glass or two of young Beaujolias or White Zin goes perfectly with this book. Kushner swirls his own witticisms, his musings on what would happen if famous authors wrote about wine (especially funny are Joan Rivers on Chablis and Dr. Seuss on Champagne: "I do not like it / Cham I am / I do not like / That pagne of cham"), trivia, trivia quizzes and humorous quizzes, and his real-life clips of studies on the mental benefits of drinking wine with quips and quotes from the drunk and the famous. There's plenty of silliness in a glass of wine, and Kushner saves most of his wickedness for the pretentious tasters, the wine connoisseurs and the sommeliers (that's wine servers for the uninitiated). New Yorker cartoons, like the heady aroma of a newly opened bottle of Napa Valley wine, add a delicious flavor to this humorous collection.

Although those with a passion for the 'fruit of the vine' will especially enjoy this book, it will definitely be valued by anyone who appreciates humor as dry and as crisp as an excellent chablis. The quotes, jokes, and one liners are priceless -- unlike many a bottle of expensive wine. And Kushner's own running commentary reads like stand up comedy at its best.Now that many of us are quietly eschewing French wines (that are not really better than many other wines but which did, until recently, possess a certain 'snob appeal') we may well wonder what to bring to the next party or get-together that will impress a hostess with our 'sophistication, worldiness and overall sense of 'cool.' This is the answer. Bring a copy of this book together with a bottle of Californian (or) Virginian (or) Spanish (or) Italian (or) Australian, (or) Chilean wine, and you will not only make a tremendous hit with the host or hostess, but by reading excerpts from the book aloud, you'll be assured that the party won't be dull.