Book description
'I am taking a few months off to travel and wander, drinking my way
across the Islamic world to see whether I can dry myself out, cure
myself of a bout of alcoholic excess. It is a personal crisis, a
private curiosity. I am curious to see how non-drinkers live. Perhaps
they have something to teach me.'
Booze is mankind's premier drug of choice, the most popular
mind-altering substance ever devised, and it plays a furtive,
celebrated and subversive role in nearly every culture on earth. In
The Wet and the Dry, Lawrence Osborne explores the culture of
permission, particularly in the West, and the opposing culture of
prohibition, notably in the Islamic East.
Osborne's globe-trotting odyssey takes him from the luxurious bars
of Milan to the vineyards of Lebanon, threatened by Hezbollah; from
Swedish vodka to Pakistani strawberry gin; from the Nellie Dean pub in
Soho to the dangerous brothels and drinking dens on the Malaysian
border; from the boutique scotch produced on Islay to the liquor
destroying Native American reservations; and from the only brewery in
the dry country of Pakistan to the search for a bottle of New Year's
champagne in Oman. All the while, Osborne's own Irish family history
of terrifying alcoholism fails to deter him from seeking out a drink
wherever he can.
Lawrence Osborne is the author of The Forgiven and
Bangkok Days. He has written for the New York Times
Magazine, the Conde Nast Traveler and the New Yorker
and is a frequent contributor to Newsweek International and the
Wall Street Journal Magazine. Born in England, he lives in
Bangkok.
www. lawrenceosborne. net
