Alcoholics | Jonathan Ames, Dan Haspiel

When Jonathan A. finds himself in the back of a car with an old dwarf who is after his underpants, he realizes he may have a problem with alcohol. His first drunk had introduced him to the fleeting magic of beer: a magical potion that makes you more handsome, cooler, but leaves you flat on your face. A warning that didn't stop him from leading a double life: top of the class during the week, last of the alcoholics on weekends. His sex life is just as erratic, putting a strain on a friendship he thought was indestructible. Then come the dramas, and now it's oblivion that Jonathan seeks in intoxication: that of alcohol, of course, but also that of love and longing. From the idyllic beaches of the Grenadines to the gutters of Brooklyn, passing through a crappy stay in the South of France, Alcoholic is the sad and tender story of a man in search of himself. How many times can a man sink? Alcoholic is the story of Jonathan A., the author's alter ego, and his destructive romance with the bottle. It all starts when, accompanied by his childhood friend, he discovers the magical power of beer: to make him more beautiful, more seductive, cooler, at least in his own eyes. The problem is, he can't hold his liquor. Which doesn't stop him from binge drinking until he weaves another life, twilight and invisible, behind his brilliant academic career. Then come the dramas, intimate or collective, that push him to seek even more violently the oblivion that intoxication provides. Through the complicated relationships of his alter ego, his disappointed loves, and his chaotic sexuality, Jonathan Ames dissects the slow disintegration of a man, with such disarming honesty that his setbacks are adorned with a touching depth. If Alcoholic is the sad and tender story of a writer in search of himself, it is also a universal tale, that of the struggles we face day after day in our careers, friendships, and loves to keep our demons at bay - that of a man striving to be better, without always succeeding.