Synopses & Reviews
Finally, a field guide to preparing and identifying virtually every drink at the bar, from the Añejo Highball to the Caipirinha, from the Singapore Sling to the Zombie!
Field Guide to Cocktails is not an ordinary bartender’s guide. Here are more than 200 recipes for the world’s best libations, with tried-and-true classics like the Tom Collins and the Fuzzy Navel and contemporary favorites like the Mojito and the Cosmopolitan.
Full-color photographs of the cocktails are cross referenced to in-depth descriptions of the drinks. The histories are the stuff of legend: The Gin Rickey was mixed up to satisfy a thirsty lobbyist; Grog was drunk by sailors in the British Navy to prevent scurvy; and the Gibson was originally just a glass of water with an onion in it. You’ll also learn the most appropriate time and season to enjoy the drink, and you’ll get suggestions for the perfect food pairings—lobster with a Cape Codder, sharp cheese and crackers with a Gin and Tonic, black bean dip and chips with a Cuba Libre, and more.
So whether you’re planning a cocktail party or trying to identify a new drink to try at the bar, Field Guide to Cocktails is the only mixology book you’ll ever need. Cheers!
Review
“Slang, which usually steers clear of praise, manages 354 synonyms for ‘excellent.’ Mr. Chirico’s book deserves the lot. It is witty, erudite, admirably widely researched, and skewers those who forget that in the phrase ‘bad language,’ the ‘bad’ is merely an opinion and it is the ‘language,’ as valid and fascinating as any other variety of English, that matters. Thus the essence of a study that will appeal both to the general reader and to the expert who will acknowledge it as among the best overviews of its topic: swearing. H. L. Mencken would have enjoyed Damn! So too would Lenny Bruce.” —Jonathon Green, author, Green’s Dictionary of Slang
Review
“An informative trip on the topics of profanity, cursing, swearing, obscenity, or whatever else we want to call offensive speech, with connections to media, popular culture, the courts, sports, and social science. Damn! is full of relevant, up-to-date, and comprehensive examples of this vexing aspect of human communication. Chirico’s entertaining and often humorous examples bring home the complicated, nuanced, and often misunderstood world of cursing in America past and present.” —Timothy Jay, PhD, author, Cursing in America and Why We Curse
Synopsis
Quirk's popular Field Guide series has taught readers how to identify stains, gestures, fruits and vegetables, meats, and even power tools. Now it's time to kick back and relaxwith Field Guide to Cocktails. Here are recipes for more than 200 libations, from tried-and-true classics like the Tom Collins and the Fuzzy Navel to contemporary favorites like the Caipirinha and the Añejo Highball. In addition to recipes and suggested food pairings (try extra-sharp cheddar cheese with that Gin and Tonic!), you'll also learn the fascinating histories of your favorite cocktails (the Bellini, for instance, was created at the legendary Harry's Bar in Venice). Of course, no field guide would be complete without photographsthis one has more than 200 gorgeous full-color images. So whether you're trying to identify a trendy new drink or planning a cocktail party, Field Guide to Cocktails is the only mixology book you'll ever need. Drink up!
Synopsis
Swearing, cussing, or cursing, out of anger, excitement, or just because, is something most of us do, at least to some degree. Turn on the television or open a magazine, and there it is. Damn! is an insightful and entertaining look at our evolving use of profanity over the last half-century or so, from a time when Gone with the Wind came under fire for using the word “damn” to an age where the f-bomb is dropped in all walks of life. Writer and artist Rob Chirico follows the course of swearing through literature, the media, and music, as well as through our daily lives. From back rooms and barracks to bookshelves and Broadway; and from precedents to presidents, the journey includes such diverse notables as George Carlin, the Simpsons, D. H. Lawrence, Ice T, Barack Obama, Nietzsche, and, of course, Lenny Bruce. If you have ever stopped and wondered WTF has happened to our American tongue, don’t get out the bar of soap until you finish Damn!
About the Author
Rob Chirico is a writer, an artist, and the author of Field Guide to Cocktails. He lives in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Keith Allan is an Australian linguist and emeritus professor at Monash University.