In the two decades since Bright Lights, Big City reinvigorated contemporary fiction, Jay McInerney can claim a great many accomplishments, i...
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reviews
Jul 30, 2010
Josh
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Collections of essays like this are bound to be uneven, and this one is no exception. This is really more of a 3 1/2 star rating. As other reviewers have pointed out, the strongest parts of the book are the first three chapters where his focus is on wine regions. His discriptions of these places and their wines are witty, engaging and highly entertaining.
Like the hillsides and valleys vines seem to love, the lowest part of the book is the middle, part four, in which he talks about More...
Like the hillsides and valleys vines seem to love, the lowest part of the book is the middle, part four, in which he talks about More...
Oct 11, 2011
Christa
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An enjoyable romp through a few handfuls of the world's great wine experiences. Inside, one will find brief descriptions of several varietals and styles, touching on regions and methods. Speckeled throughout are a smattering of tasting notes on specific wines . Pair this with anecdotes that highlight 'the experience' -- the estates, the conversations with vitners in cellars, the dinner parties, the Big Names. Be prepared for a litle name-dropping, though if I had experiecned some of the peop
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Dec 31, 2008
Marty
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McInerney entertains you through these little vinous vignettes that don't alienate the non-inducted reader, yet a little bit of wine knowledge would enrich your reading of the book. I enjoyed his honesty and championing of wines underloved by the masses, such as bubbly and riesling. This is a great little book if you want to learn a few things and the format of the book makes it an easy book to read in many short sittings. A great library find.
Sep 07, 2009
while i'm enjoying the author's humor, little of his reviews are resonating with me having not tasted what he's talking about. so i'm going to beging reading this again in a whole new way. my finance and i are going to read a chapter at a time and then search for the wine du jour. i think it will be a lot more impactful (and fun!) that way. to be continued...
Nov 19, 2007
Elizabeth
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that all wine writers must also be incredibly pretentious. Jay McInerney is also very funny and his books therefore worth reading him repeat the story about how he named a very posh wine simply from taste in a very distinguished setting, impressing everyone in the room. I think he mentioned it four times in this collection of essays, making it four times too many.
Still, he let me know about the resurgence of good cabernets in Chile, he told me i More...
Still, he let me know about the resurgence of good cabernets in Chile, he told me i More...
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Aug 12, 2008
Elizabeth
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Loved this book. But warning: if your wine knowledge is super basic, this book might be a bit of mumbo jumbo to you. Its essentially a collection of wine essays, each chapter a few pages long talking about a various wine region in the world. He then talks about 3-5 wine producers he interviews for that region, giving his recommendations for wine producers to try in each region. The positive is that his style of writing is very conversational and tongue in cheek humor, so it's like talking to a
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Feb 17, 2009
Lauren
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A wonderful chaser inbetween incredibly depressing books, this read like a book long series of magazine articles about wine. A speed reading treat.
Sep 15, 2009
Adrian
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This book was wonderful. Really makes you want to try all the wines he speaks about. I hope they are easy to find in my local wine stores. Lucky for me Austin is a great wine town with many exclusive wine stores and dealers. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves wine and is passionate about wine. Its is funny, insightful, and just a great read.
Jan 11, 2009
Kurt
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Articles written about wine by a man who truly enjoys wine. Lots of great bottles mentioned.
Feb 22, 2009
Elizabeth
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As some have observed before me, Jay McInerney's writing on wine is much more fun to read than his novels. Sadly, he wrote a wine column for House and Garden, which has stopped printing.
This is for someone that is seriously interested in wine, but is not an expert. McInerney has some great anecdotes, name drops in a charming way, and, most important, gives you the lowdown on a lot of interesting wines. He loves condrieu, reisling, and burgundy. Great wine bookâand there aren't many o More...
This is for someone that is seriously interested in wine, but is not an expert. McInerney has some great anecdotes, name drops in a charming way, and, most important, gives you the lowdown on a lot of interesting wines. He loves condrieu, reisling, and burgundy. Great wine bookâand there aren't many o More...
Jan 25, 2008
Carrie
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I haven't read any of McInerney's fiction, but with my increasing obsession with/enjoyment of wine, I really enjoyed this book. The pieces are drawn from McInerney's wine columns in House & Garden magazine, and are somewhat repetitive at times, and sometimes there were just too many detailed names to keep track of, but I feel like I learned a lot anyway. I'm glad I bought the book as opposed to getting it from the library so that I can use it as a resource for years to come.
Feb 11, 2011
Morgan
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Only lovers of wine and fluent languange. Anybody else will be bored extremely.
Jul 18, 2007
Russ
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This collection of McInerney's wine columns for House and Garden show why he is one of the better wine writers at work today. He's as likely to compare a wine to a movie or a song as he is to compare it some fruit no one has ever tasted. He doesn't try to be encyclopedic, and you'll never read about how many hundreds of wines he tried at one sitting. Instead, you get to read someone who loves wine and loves metaphor. It's a pretty enjoyable combination.
Sep 24, 2007
Mike
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Whereas Bacchus and Me irritated me with its constant name-dropping and its focus on wines only the rich can afford, this follow-up collection of short essays is more down to earth. It's also more insightful, focuses on some less obvious but more affordable wines and wine regions, and is just as playful. This was a lot of fun to read.
Apr 24, 2008
Ben
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This is a collection of essays about wine, wine regions, and winemakers. I really enjoyed the chapters dealing with specific varietals and regions. I also appreciated that the essays were short, making the read quite swift. But, I really didn't enjoy the chapters solely about the winemakers and their personalities.
Jan 13, 2008
Aaron
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This is a collection of his wine writings for Houses & Gardens. Entertaining, funny at times and lots of good information. I'm still not sure if I could sit through his fictional writings of coke laced 80's NYC but his love of wine and general knowledge of the stuff make this a good read. recommended.
Aug 26, 2008
Alex
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I kind of wish I'd read Red, White, and Drunk All Over first. I finished this book with a list of wines to try. Really enjoyed the center chapters--profiles of winemakers. It's clear that McInerney lives and drinks outside my tax bracket. Still, pleasant reading.
Sep 26, 2007
Iano
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Enjoyable. Informative and funny and not a bit snooty. If you like your wine this is a good read. Lots of short chapters based on previously published magazine and newspaper articles. Easy to pick up and put down. A good book to read while reading another book, or a good toilet book!
Apr 05, 2011
Erin
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I enjoy McInerney's writing about wine, which is informative without being pretentious. However, I thought these brief essays were a little disjointed. One didn't have a whole lot to do with the next. Still, I took notes on some new varietals to try and learned quite a bit.
Jan 29, 2008
Kimberly
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This is a series of short stories about wine and its origins that I really enjoyed- its great bedtime reading, when you just want little pieces at a time of any one thing. On the way through the book I learned a lot about wine, which was also nice.
May 18, 2008
this is a canadian wine writer, so of course its a must read! i wish i had been taking notes while reading it, so many interesting wines that ive never heard of... and need to search for now!
Jun 30, 2008
Maureen
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I gave up on this book for now. It's good, if you already know a lot about wine. The antecdotes are so specific that it really isn't that compelling if you are more of a newbie like me.
Oct 26, 2008
Nicholas
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Now that I'm not buying wine on a daily basis this has helped me keep up on the learning curve. Recommended for anyone who is interested in the wine world...
