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On Booze
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“First you take a drink,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once noted, “then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.” Fitzgerald wrote alcohol into almost every one of his stories. On Booze gathers debutantes and dandies, rowdy jazz musicians, lost children and ragtime riff-raff into a newly compiled collection taken from The Crack-Up, and other works never before published
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Disparate pieces, linked not by beverages but ennui. This was a Christmas gift from Joel. I enjoyed The Crack-Up, the piece on travel, the meditation on insomnia and especially My Lost City.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe physician’s notes, like the psychiatrist in the liner notes for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. There’s an odd juxtaposition: Fitzgerald and Mingus.
This slim collection abounds with lyricism and despair.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe physician’s notes, like the psychiatrist in the liner notes for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. There’s an odd juxtaposition: Fitzgerald and Mingus.
This slim collection abounds with lyricism and despair.
I could spend my life pulling quotes out of this little ditty.
"On the side of the bed I put my head in my hands. Then silence, silence--and suddenly--or so it seems in retrospect--suddenly I am asleep. Sleep--real sleep, the dear, the cherished one, the lullaby. So deep and warm the bed and the pillow enfolding me, letting me sink into peace--nothingness--my dreams now, after the catharsis of the dark hours, are of young and lovely people doing young, lovely things...."
The stuff in the book is ...more
"On the side of the bed I put my head in my hands. Then silence, silence--and suddenly--or so it seems in retrospect--suddenly I am asleep. Sleep--real sleep, the dear, the cherished one, the lullaby. So deep and warm the bed and the pillow enfolding me, letting me sink into peace--nothingness--my dreams now, after the catharsis of the dark hours, are of young and lovely people doing young, lovely things...."
The stuff in the book is ...more
Not quite as funny, wise, vivid, or interesting as you'd think it might be.
A lot of it is recycled (obviously) but it's some vague, mildly amusing letters mixed in with long passages from The Crack-Up (which I've already read before) and this doth not a FSF compendium of booze ruminations make....
There is this, though:
"When he urinated, it sounded like a night prayer."
Two stars. That last quote just made it under the one-star gun. ...more
I enjoyed it on the basis that it was a collection of Fitzgerald's writings, but it did kind of feel like the editors did a Find-Replace of his work for anything that mentioned the words "drink" "gin" "drunk" "booze" etc., and copy-pasted them together to make a book. The back said it was his thoughts and experiences with drinking, and yet some stories would be 5, 10 pages and only mention the narrator sipping a drink at some point. So it was a little random in that respect. I think "The Crack-U
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The longest section of this very short novel was, unfortunately, what I found to be the most boring part. However, while boring, it's still written by Fitzgerald and still, therefore, has beautiful imagery. I read it fluidly and lazily, like a poem. I just listened to the rhythm and the sound instead of focusing on the details of all the hotels he and Zelda stayed in over several years.
I'll have to reread this after I've read more Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, I've only tackled The Great Gatsby so ...more
I'll have to reread this after I've read more Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, I've only tackled The Great Gatsby so ...more
A selection of short pieces by the author of The Great Gatsby, some pertaining to the drinking of alcohol.
Book Review: On Booze is not quite as described on the tin: "A collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best drinking stories." Rather, these are pieces cherry-picked from the assemblage The Crack-Up (1945) edited by his friend Edmund (Bunny) Wilson and published by New Directions after Fitzgerald's death. (Wilson also edited Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, The Last Tycoon.) Most of the cont ...more
Book Review: On Booze is not quite as described on the tin: "A collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best drinking stories." Rather, these are pieces cherry-picked from the assemblage The Crack-Up (1945) edited by his friend Edmund (Bunny) Wilson and published by New Directions after Fitzgerald's death. (Wilson also edited Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, The Last Tycoon.) Most of the cont ...more
If you're Fitzgerald's biggest fan, then by all means, read this book. The bit about their travels was cute and atmospheric enough, but it still felt like a collection of drafts for "setting the scene" in some proper writing. The rest of it was insufferably full of pseudo-profound ennui. Hard pass from my side.
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"I had discovered the crowning error of the city, its Pandora's box. Full of vaunting pride the New Yorker had climbed here, and seen with dismay what he had never suspected (..) And with that awful realization that New York was a city after all and not a universe, the whole shining edifice that he had reared in his imagination came crashing to the ground."
Big love for Fitzgerald. ...more
Big love for Fitzgerald. ...more
This book bummed me out and made me question the editorial quality of the publishing line in general. Most of the pieces can only be described as being tangentially related to alcohol - few fit the description on the back of the book. I'm totally in support of digging up work in the public domain, coming up with an enticing, contemporaneous angle to it, and packaging it in a well-designed book, but I'm not into naming the collection and describing it as something other than what it is.
Reading t ...more
Reading t ...more
I typically am not a huge fan of Fitzgerald, but I loved loved loved this collection. Half of it is written in an inebriated state and might I add, I would happily of drank with F. Scott were he alive today. “Selections from Notebooks” are fantastic quibs that make the modern mind wonder… what if F. Scott had a twitter account. “Selections from letters” shows his ability to be rather eloquently direct, supportive, and critical of his dearest, talented friends. I especially adore that half his wo
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I felt that this book was an excuse for editors to stick random parts of Fitzgerald's work that ever mentioned the word drink or alcohol, not necessarily writings about drinking or Fitzgerald's alcoholism. However, I think the book redeems itself in at it seems to look directly into Fitzgerald's psyche. "the Crack Up" is a 3 part autobiographical piece where fitzgerald describes a nervous breakdown and a desire to avoid contact with former relations. "Show Mr. And Mrs. F To..." is another autob ...more
Mar 08, 2012
Abbi Dion
added it
"Drunk at 20, wrecked at 30, dead at 40.
Drunk at 21, human at 31, mellow at 41, dead at 51."
"Debut: the first time a young girl is seen drunk in public."
I made a note during "My Lost City" -- "Major problem with FSF's writing: relies heavily on privileged anedcotes, knowlege and interest in the gossip of a society we care little about--particularly because the gossip is of the most mundane variety. From this tale, I pulled the beauty: "All is lost save memory, yet sometimes I imagine [...]"
"and ...more
Drunk at 21, human at 31, mellow at 41, dead at 51."
"Debut: the first time a young girl is seen drunk in public."
I made a note during "My Lost City" -- "Major problem with FSF's writing: relies heavily on privileged anedcotes, knowlege and interest in the gossip of a society we care little about--particularly because the gossip is of the most mundane variety. From this tale, I pulled the beauty: "All is lost save memory, yet sometimes I imagine [...]"
"and ...more
Review first posted on BookLikes:
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...
On Booze...I wish I had been when reading this.
This is a collection of short stories and fragments of Fitzgerald's notes and unfinished pieces. It's not polished and when reading it I could not help but feel that this was thrown together by an editor to create a freebie book to go with a re-issue of FSF's novels.
If you are a die hard fan, the short stories are worth reading but they are not of the same strength as the one ...more
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...
On Booze...I wish I had been when reading this.
This is a collection of short stories and fragments of Fitzgerald's notes and unfinished pieces. It's not polished and when reading it I could not help but feel that this was thrown together by an editor to create a freebie book to go with a re-issue of FSF's novels.
If you are a die hard fan, the short stories are worth reading but they are not of the same strength as the one ...more
Seems silly to offer caveats about an affordable little book of winning pieces by an American giant, but here goes: everything contained within can also be found in The Crack-Up, which is also readily available from New Directions even if it won't fit in your pocket. Also the title is misleading; maybe a third of the pieces are about booze per se, the rest simply chart vaguely booze-related topics: insomnia, travel, and the changing nature of Manhattan social life.
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i can't get over how beautiful this book is. from the slim design, to the matted textured cover, to the well thought out selections. it's a pleasure to read and reminds me why i love holding books. to feel their weight between my fingertips.
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Write drunk, edit sober.
My rating does not reflect how interesting this book is. Yes, the stories themselves were lacking, but reading a clearly intoxicated Fitzgerald was rather enjoyable. Often I was unsure of what exactly was going on in each piece, but as I kept reading, I could see what Fitzgerald was aiming to do. “Show Mr. and Mrs. F. to Number—“ is an interesting idea in theory, but the execution didn’t do Fitzgerald’s intention (or at least what I think his intention was) justice. In my opinion, this story was
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Much of this was published in the early to mid-30s in magazines such as Esquire. Includes “Selections from the Notebooks,” “The Crack-Up,” “Show Mr. and Mrs. F to Number ——,” “Sleeping and Waking,” “My Lost City” and “Selections from the Letters.” This high-proof shot of Fitzgerald’s work contains jokes, sketches, correspondences and recollections fueled by alcohol or its effects such as hangovers, insomnia, nerves, euphoria, disillusion and joy. I would’ve liked more pages of notes like these:
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There were parts of this I enjoyed, certain reflections I related to. I’ve been feeling these things, but haven’t been able to put those feelings into words, and it’s really special when you find someone who has done that for you.
That being said, I don’t think I’ll remember much of this book. Most of what was written here, it seems, was never meant to be published, and there was likely a reason for that. I may go back to the portions about depression or insomnia, but I felt like those should hav ...more
That being said, I don’t think I’ll remember much of this book. Most of what was written here, it seems, was never meant to be published, and there was likely a reason for that. I may go back to the portions about depression or insomnia, but I felt like those should hav ...more
Fitzgerald is in the bunch with my all time favorite writers. I found this gem stuffed in the back of a bookshelf at a book store. I don't quite know how to explain it but his words throughout his stories made me experience immense feelings. "I felt - therefore I was". As someone who is from, and still lives, on Long Island, I enjoyed reading about familiar places and now have a new view of such places. After reading The Crack-Up, I went back and reread it immediately. I felt as if Fitzgerald wa
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A must read for any New Yorker. Great retrospectives that most probably blur the lines of reality and fiction. Touching on the disillusionment of a plateauing successful career, issues with age and life expectations, travel diaries and the relationship one has with home (whether one is living there often or not). The book is clearly not for everyone. It's just a gem for those who can relate.
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i feel like it's more disrespectful to pry into a man's journals and pull out random quotes, then curate them to highlight his alcoholism than it would've been for his estate to just run out of money...this book is such an insult to someone's memory.
that one section on how insomnia has 2 sleeps was cool, but not worth this publication. ...more
that one section on how insomnia has 2 sleeps was cool, but not worth this publication. ...more
The publishers desperately need to add a preface and an editors note. Everything was jumbled together and I wanted to know where all of these pieces came from but of course they didn’t include that. Shitty publisher- if you want to read what’s included in this, just read the crack up since it’s basically all excerpts from that.
thoroughly enjoyed every story in this but the second one, but still i'd recommend!! they're all short enough to be palatable and not overwhelming, especially if you just want an introduction to the climate of the jazz age and his writing that isn't Gatsby.
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Essential for Fitzgerald fans, but I’m not sure how interesting reading his hotel reviews for 20 pages is for those not attuned to his life. The short stories are pretty good though, with “My Lost City” being the highlight.
Quick read, but an absolutely magical read.
Mundane. All the flourish of his usual writing style with none of the excitement of fiction.
It is essentially a collection of short stories with some other writing sprinkled in. I rather enjoyed the letters, though I am sure there are more complete collections out there.
High-brow, incoherent, and false advertising.
The content is good, but it feels like a poorly curated edition.
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Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American writer of novels and short stories, whose works have been seen as evocative of the Jazz Age, a term he himself allegedly coined. He is regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century writers. Fitzgerald was of the self-styled "Lost Generation," Americans born in the 1890s who came of age during World War I. He finished four novels, left a fifth unfini
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