A Night Of Serious Drinking

The French poet and author of Mount Analogue shares a satirical allegory of the absurdities of intellectual society. As in Rene Daumal’s cult classic Mount Analogue, A Night of Serious Drinking concerns an autobiographical protagonist on a mind-expanding journey. But rather than seeking enlightenment, the anonymous narrator recounts an evening getting drunk with a group of friends. As the party becomes intoxicated and exuberant, the narrator’s wandering lead him from seeming paradises to the depths of pure hell. The characters our hero encounters go by absurd titles, such as Anthographers, Fabricators of useless objects, Scienters, Nibblists, and Clarificators. Yet the inhabitants of these strange realms are only too familiar: scientists dissecting an animal in their laboratory, a wise man surrounded by his devotees, politicians angling for influence, and poets expounding their rhetoric. Their hilarious antics and intellectual games reveal incisive social commentary that combines poetic imagination and philosophical depth.

Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor," a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it. It was love at first sight. The beads of moisture on a chilled bottle. The way the glasses clinked and the conversation flowed. Then it became obsession. The way she hid her bottles behind her lover's refrigerator. The way she slipped from the dinner table to the bathroom, from work to the bar. And then, like so many love stories, it fell apart. Drinking is Caroline Kapp's harrowing chronicle of her twenty-year love affair with alcohol. Caroline had her first drink at fourteen. She drank through her yeras at an Ivy League college, and through an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Publicly she was a dutiful daughter, a sophisticated professional. Privately she was drinking herself into oblivion. This startlingly honest memoir lays bare the secrecy, family myths, and destructive relationships that go hand in hand with drinking. And it is, above all, a love story for our times—full of passion and heartbreak, betrayal and desire—a triumph over the pain and deception that mark an alcoholic life. Praise for Drinking “Quietly moving . . . Caroline Knapp dazzles us with her heady description of alcohol's allure and its devastating hold.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “Filled with hard-won wisdom . . . [a] perceptive and revealing book.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Eloquent . . . a remarkable exercise in self-discovery.”—The New York Times “Drinking not only describes triumph; it is one.”—Newsweek

The long-awaited sequel to THE UNEXPECTED JOY OF BEING SOBER - the Sunday Times bestseller 'Exquisite' - Fearne Cotton, Happy Place 'A paean to the longer-term pleasures of staying booze-free' - The Guardian 'The kind of book that changes lives, and very possibly saves them' - The Lancet Psychiatry 'A reflective, raw and riveting read. A beautiful book on what it takes to root for yourself' - Emma Gannon, Ctrl Alt Delete 'No other author writes about sober living with as much warmth or emotional range as Catherine Gray. Her deep insight into the subtle psychologies of drinking, and of life, means that everything she writes is both utterly relatable and stretches our minds. Hers is a rare wisdom.' - Dr Richard Piper, CEO, Alcohol Change UK What's it like to give up drinking forever? We know now that being teetotal for one, three, even twelve months brings surprising joys and a recharged body... but nothing has been written about going years deep into being alcohol-free. As Catherine Gray, author of runaway bestseller The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, streaks towards a decade sober, she explores this uncharted territory in her trademark funny, disruptive and warm way. This is a must-read for anyone sober-curious, whether they've put down the bottle yet or not. Praise for The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: 'Fascinating' - Bryony Gordon 'Truthful, modern and real' - Stylist 'Brave, witty and brilliantly written' - Marie Claire 'Gray's tale of going sober is uplifting and inspiring' - Evening Standard 'Not remotely preachy' - Sunday Times 'Jaunty, shrewd and convincing' - Sunday Telegraph 'Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying' - Guardian 'An empathetic, warm and hilarious tale from a hugely likeable human' - The Lancet Psychiatry

Learn how to shun the enemies of perfect drinking. Protect yourself from moral panic, well-meant nannying and patronizing. Know the health risks. Avoid the dangers of alcoholism. Seek to oppose counterproductive alcohol policies.

Praised for his independence, curiosity, intimate knowledge of French literature, and sharp reader's eye, John Taylor is a writer-critic who is naturally skeptical of literary fashions, overnight reputations, and readymade academic categories. Here he examines various genres of politically committed literature (such as Jean Hatzfeld's "narratives" about Rwanda or Tchicaya U Tam'si's verse), some overlooked fiction, and several provocative experiments with literary form (ranging from the poetry of Jean-Paul Michel and Marie etienne to the "three-line novels" of Felix Feneon).Taylor continues to reveal the remarkable resourcefulness of French writing. Besides drawing attention to authors (like Dai Sijie or Albert Cossery) who have come to French from other languages, he has added younger novelists to his critical panorama.Challenging persistent cliches and recovering deserving voices from unjust neglect, Taylor's vision of French literature conjures up the image of a vital nexus. Poetry crisscrosses with prose, writers from one generation meet up with those from the next or the previous one, while the philosophical ideas underlying French writing are scrutinized. This is an essential guide to the realities of French culture today.

Revenge Grows Harsh is a story of retribution, forgiveness and the relationship between two friends from opposite sides of the tracks. It is a story of murder, drugs, money laundering and insurance fraud set largely in the grey, uncompromising streets of Manchester and in the soulless New Town of Milton Keynes. DCI Duncan investigates the brutal murder of a young man in Manchester's gay village. His inquiry takes him from the sleazy underworld of the North West to the middle class environs of Buckinghamshire, in search of the enigmatic lawyer, Alex Harris, who is connected to both the victim and suspects alike. What he finds is that Harris is not what he seems and the investigation takes him back, at breakneck pace, to his home town and a violent past. A past that is on a dramatic collision course with the present.

CMJ New Music Report is the primary source for exclusive charts of non-commercial and college radio airplay and independent and trend-forward retail sales. CMJ's trade publication, compiles playlists for college and non-commercial stations; often a prelude to larger success.