Drinking and Misadventures in the Land of Abstinence | Lawrence Osborne, Ange Rimbaud

Why, exactly, do we drink - meaning: alcohol? Do non-drinkers have something to teach us? Is drinking a venerable tradition, a dangerous addiction, a soul sickness? Is it the refined expression of a civilization, an indicator of good mental health, or the opposite? Driven by curiosity - how can abstainers live? - convinced that the best way to think about the supposed "clash of civilizations" between East and West is to explore the divide between drinkers and non-drinkers, alcoholics and prohibition enthusiasts, Lawrence Osborne, an unrepentant drinker, if not a self-proclaimed alcoholic, sets out to venture into the land of Islam and beyond, keeping in mind that each society wages its own war against pleasure - but determined to find his daily cocktail at 6 pm no matter what...Provocative, funny, and desperate, politically incorrect and sensual, but above all deeply human, a journey that will not be easy, from the luxurious bars of Milan to the vineyards of Lebanon, from Pakistani gin to Swedish vodka, from Soho's pubs to the seedy dives of Malaysia, from Islay malt to Pakistan's only brewery...Lawrence Osborne, a travel writer and novelist, can be called the revelation of English literature, in the tradition of Graham Greene. "Drinking and its Discontents" was ranked by the New York Times among the top 10 books of 2013.