Books etc

Does alcohol really make the world go round, asks our regular reviewer

- SOPHIE THORPE

At the time of writing, it’s five weeks since my last glass of wine. Among my friends, that’s not unusual – but it is for me. Normally, I’m the exception – one of the few people I know who almost always has a bottle of wine open and a glass with dinner most nights. I also – shock! horror! – have no qualms about drinking alone. I always had day(s) off, the odd week or two, but never a proper stint and I wanted to see how I felt booze-free. These days, more and more people are doing something similar.

With this in mind, I picked up Edward Slingerland’s Drunk (Little, Brown Spark, 2021) – a book that feels more relevant than ever. Subtitled ‘How we sipped, danced and stumbled our way to civilization’, it’s a thought-provoking book and its themes have been percolating since I read it.