I just came across this new absinthe book and wanted to know if anyone knew anything about it?

Here's the review blurb from Amazon:

"Absinthe, the forerunner of all anise-based drinks, originated in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean. It first made its appearance in western Europe when a Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, fleeing from the French Revolution, set up as a travelling physician in and around the Swiss border town of Covet and started peddling an elixir of anise, fennel, camomile, coriander and wormwood, distilled in alcohol. First sold commercially as Pernod, absinthe was high in alcoholic strength (65-75 per cent) yet also dry and refreshing. The French army, returning from Algeria in 1830, said that diluting it with water gave protection from malaria and it was soon taken up by smart French society. It was also embraced by radical artists and writers, among them Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Toulouse-Lautrec, partly to flout polite society, partly because it was believed (like hashish and opium) to stimulate artistic creativity. In the late 1870s, however, it lost public favour in France in the face of opposition from the authorities and acquired a reputation, not unlike gin in 18th-century England, as a weird, mind-altering, hallucinogenic, shamanic drug, the tipple of madmen and degenerates. Van Gogh for instance, reputedly drank it before cutting off his ear. But the main concern of the authorities was drinking by females and the working class. In 1915, fearing that it would undermine France's fighting in World War I, the French senate banned the sale of absinthe in France. Other countries followed suit but not Britain, where absinthe continued to be part of the cocktail culture of the 1920s (it figures in Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall of 1928) nor Denmark, Spain or the Czech Republic, which began to export it again after the 'velvet revolution' of 1989. The author sees absinthe as a much-maligned and even demonized drink. His book is an erudite and elegantly written history of the cultural rituals of absinthe drinking and in particular its association with the Decadents of 1890s Paris. He also discusses the recently discovered pharmacology of how absinthe actually works on the nervous system and adds an appendix with excerpts from selected classic texts on the drink. An excellent guide to a notorious spirit."


Unless I get a sense from anyone here that this book isn't worth it I'll buy it then review it right her for everyone.

*UPDATE*

So I think this book is from 2001. Can't be positive because another site has the date published in 2005. But if so why has it never come up in discussion? I've done countless searches for absinthe books and have never seen it come up before!

Yeah, this book has been around for a long time, also known as The Book of Absinthe, a Cultural History.

Oh crap. I thought I stumbled on something. Why does it have two names? Is it a good book?

The only thing I could think of is due to the two different publishers. However, the Dedalus one has fewer pages and different dimensions (according to the available stats), so it's anyone's guess how the books differ.

http://wormwoodsociety.org/forums/index.ph...l+history\
http://wormwoodsociety.org/forums/index.ph...l+history\
http://wormwoodsociety.org/forums/index.ph...l+history\
These have some discussion on it. Since it was published in 2001 it's outdated in many respects, though I find it to be a good companion to the Conrad book. A few literary excerpts can be found in it, and there are very few pictures.

The other thing I always laughed at was that publication of this book was spurred at least in part by the widespread release of a certain brand of absinth that helped start a big revival...

Oh boy, for the reason stated above I think I'll just let that one pass bye. I wonder if there are any new books in the works. A lot has changed in even 3 years. Maybe we're not ready yet. I mean we don't need anymore history lessons...

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Speaking of old news, is this painting known to everyone but me?



Don't recall ever having seen it before, nor have I ever heard of Hungarian artist László Mednyánszky. The title of the painting (huge surprise here) is Absinthe Drinker (c. 1898).
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I'm not familiar with it but I like the look in his eyes.

Thank you Brooks. I'm glad you dropped in today. Precious and myself were just talking about you the other day. Good stuff only.

We don't know or believe there is any bad stuff. Cheers!

I was also going to mention the eyes. Really cool painting. I saw the whole thing and then the eyes crept up on my attention. Very cool!

Hidy-ho, Bill, and thank you. Does a heart good to see you! Please send my best to the gorgeous blond lady.

Nice to see all o' yez. So many new folks.....

The Absinthe Drinker's eyes are intense, and the face is very French. I believe the working title of the painting was Jacques Cousteau On a Bender.

Ha! I hadn't thought of that, but it makes total sense.