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I Drink Therefore I am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine

I Drink Therefore I am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine

by RogerScruton (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $15.16
Synopsis

The ancients had a solution to the alcohol problem, which was to wrap the drink in religious rituals, to treat it as the incarnation of a god, and to marginalize disruptive behaviour as the god's doing, not the worshipper's. Gradually, under the discipline of ritual, prayer and theology, wine was tamed from its orgiastic origins to become a solemn libation to the Olympians and then the Christian Eucharist - that brief encounter with salvation which has reconciliation as its goal. We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin. Whether or not good for the body, Scrtuton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts. This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded. In vino veritas.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 224
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Published: 25 Sep 2009
ISBN 10: 1847065082
ISBN 13: 9781847065087

Media Reviews
Reviewed in Evening Standard, 2009.
Chosen as a non-fiction stocking-filler in The Herald, December 2009.
Article by Mark Dooley on Scruton in Irish Daily Mail, February 2010
[Written with] customary brio--,
Reviewed in Decanter, March 2010.
Mentioned in France Magazine, April 2010.
Reviewed in Times Higher Education Supplement, December 2009.
Author article in Decanter, March 2010.
Witty and philosophical.--,
4 stars[Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before.--,
[Written with] customary brio--Sanford Lakoff
4 stars [Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before.--Sanford Lakoff
[Scruton] writes deliciously ... this book is a marvellous read - provocative, spicy, balanced and brimful of wise words ... it is hugely recommendable.--Sanford Lakoff
If you are searching for an interesting gift for the wine buff in your life, this will last a lot longer than another bottle of wine ... The greatest joy of this book is the appendix where [Scruton] suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise.--Sanford Lakoff
A good-natured and witty exploration of the wine-drinking phenomenon, from its place in Christian worship to a sojourn down at the local bar.--Sanford Lakoff
I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to ... Scruton's book is for people who are already wine lovers and want to link their pleasure to a greater world outside--Sanford Lakoff
The third chapter is one of the finest expressions of reverence to French wines I have ever read - perfect for curling up with in front of the fire, with a large glass of claret.--Sanford Lakoff
[Scruton] is no slouch when it comes to wine ... the first part of the book combines a memoir of his development as a wino (his word) with some useful tips and factoids ... in the book's second part ... he is good on wine as the expression of a place and community, on the nuances of intoxication and on the social beneficence of buying rounds.--Sanford Lakoff
Spendid ... partly a serious guide to the wines of France, Italy, and Spain and (if you must) the New World, it is also very funny ... this is one of Scruton's most enjoyable books, uncorking much wisdom, and concluding with a wicked guide to the right drink to take while reading various philosophers.--Sanford Lakoff
Witty and philosophical.--Sanford Lakoff
A novel approach...there are nuggets of wisdom and insight.--Sanford Lakoff
[An] elegant defense of wine and its place in society ... offers a window into an unusually original, subtle, and independent mind: the mind of a gifted philosopher ... all wine lovers should feel compelled to read him.--Sanford Lakoff
They don't come much more knowledgeable than Roger Scruton ... light-hearted but thought-provoking--Sanford Lakoff
He is by turns interesting, fatuous, informative, cranky, outrageous, rhetorically self-indulgent, and insightful...For general readers, and especially Monty Python fans, this book is great fun. Summing Up: Recommended.--Sanford Lakoff
[Scruton is] clearly a man of remarkable energy, art and scope ... [An] entertaining experience.--Sanford Lakoff
Author Bio
Professor Roger Scruton is currently visiting Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University and Research Professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Washington, D.C. His other books include The West and the Rest, England: An Elegy, News from Somewhere and Gentle Regrets (all published by Continuum).