On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits
JASON WILSON writes the spirits column for the Washington Post. His column has twice won an award for Best Newspaper Food Column from the Association of Food Journalists. Wilson is also the series editor of the annual anthology The Best American Travel Writing and is the editor of TheSmartSet.com. Wilson's work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers, including National Geographic Traveler, Travel + Leisure, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post's Sunday magazine. He previously served as the restaurant critic at Philadelphia Magazine. He teaches writing at Drexel University. Visit www.jasonwilson.com.
"Wilson, a natural storyteller, delivers a unique blend of humorous
travelogue, spirits history, and recipe collection."
--Wine Enthusiast, December 2010
"A longtime travel writer, currently a spirits columnist for the
Washington Post, Wilson's book is part pithy memoir of a
sambuca-soaked kid-turned-haute-liquor-pro, part homage to the
beauty of odd bottles, part social commentary, and part irreverent
travelogue that's at its most engaging when Wilson is on the
road."
--Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/16/10 "With recipes for all sort of
cocktails and libations, plus lots of highly-opinionated rants and
raves (and a few pot-shots at the big guys, like the 30 cocktails
at the Ritz in Paris that use bottled juice, not fresh) it's not as
much fun as sitting with Jason around a table of spirits, ready to
be sampled. But until we meet again, this book is the next best
thing."
--DavidLebovitz.com, Favorite Cookbooks of 2010, 12/6/10 "It's like
reading a food memoir but with drink as the backdrop and
instigator. . . .There is education here, certainly, but via a
pleasurable, relaxing read. Like a fine drink, at its finish, I
found myself thirsty for more."
--San Francisco Bay Guardian, Appetite: Delicious giving, 12/3/10
"This is not a cocktail book, per se, so much as a grand tale of
Cocktailia, circa 2010, complete with heroes and charlatans."
--San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Essential Wine & Spirits Books of
2010, 11/28/10 "A smart globe-hopping tour behind the scenes of the
current 'cocktail revolution.'"
--The Week, 11/12/10 "The Washington Post's spirits columnist since
2007, Mr. Wilson has never been one for 100-point scales and
tasting notes. For him the best drinks are trips down memory lane.
. . The wit and judgment that mark Mr. Wilson's column are evident
throughout Boozehound, his journey through the modern
spirits market. He has had the good fortune to be on the beat as
the classic cocktail revival led to the reappearance of
long-missing liquors, drinks, and ingredients. In nine chapters,
covering everything from artisanal bitters from Italy to how to
make a Fizz fizz, he celebrates the new abundance while remaining
skeptical about liquor conglomerates' marketing schemes. . . .
Throughout his bibulous wanderings, Mr. Wilson never loses sight of
the drink in the glass."
--Wall Street Journal, 10/23/10 "Wilson may just be the best
virtual drinking buddy you've ever had, as he mixes his insights
with hilarious war stories. . . .Whether he's detailing happy hour
in Milan, the annual 'Tales of the Cocktail' convention, or Peru's
glass-sharing tradition, one thing's for sure: this book will make
you want to drink--and drink something interesting. . . Let's hope
there's another round coming soon."
--Ward Sutton, Drawn to Read, BarnesandNobleReview.com, 10/17/10
"Call him the Sherlock of scotch, the Poirot of pisco or the
Marlowe of malt whiskey."
--Washington Post Express, 10/13/10 "The book is entertaining, and
the info is accompanied by a healthy chaser of acerbic wit and
plenty of personal asides."
--Liquor.com, 10/12/10 "Entertaining, thoroughly engaging, and
utterly informative. . . . In the end, Boozehound is not
just a book for drinkers. Rather, it's an invaluable volume for
curious people everywhere, and its insights into culture, history,
travel, and, yes, spirits, are rewarding on any number of levels.
They'll also make you seriously thirsty for a cocktail--with a
renewed sense of appreciation for what went into it, of
course."
--Uncork Life!, 10/11/10 "A breezy, archly opinionated picaresque
from the world of tippling, on the order of a milder-mannered
Anthony Bourdain."
--Dallas Morning News, 10/4/10 "Wilson got his sea legs as a travel
writer so Boozehound dips hard into travelogue. Here,
though, it's a crucial means of moving liquor beyond recipes to the
realm of geography and personality. Recipes are there, of course.
But Wilson's real fodder is the fabric of the cocktail
revolution."
--San Francisco Chronicle, 10/3/10 "A global travelogue with a
buzz."
--New York Post, 10/3/10 "[Wilson] does an outstanding job of
conjuring the images of time, place, and sensation that are so
vital to the appreciation of any fine food or drink."
--The A.V. Club, 9/30/10 "Wilson not only has the rare opportunity
to write about spirits on such a frequent basis, but he also has a
true enthusiasm and affinity for the topic, which shows in the
vibrancy of his writing. Boozehound takes Wilson's
Post columns several steps further, creating for the reader
a more comprehensive view of today's dynamic world of
drinkables.I've enjoyed reading Wilson's columns for several years
now, and Boozehound is a fantastic read as well."
--Paul Clarke, Serious Eats, 9/29/10 "A new combo
travelogue/industry commentary/drink recipe collection addressing
all that matters in the world of fine spirits."
--Philadelphia City Paper, 9/28/10 "This high spirited book is sure
to quench your thirst for knowledge and fun."
--Los Angeles Daily News, 9/21/10 "Wilson's rich descriptions will
entice readers to try something new the next time they hop on a bar
stool."
--Library Journal, 9/15/10 "If Post spirits writer Jason Wilson has
any mission with his forthcoming book, Boozehound, it's to inject
some intellectual rigor into a form of journalism too often drunk
on its own superficial prose."
--Washington City Paper, Young and Hungry Blog, 9/15/10 "Jason
Wilson, the spirits columnist for The Washington Post, is funny,
smart, and just irreverent and critical enough that you trust every
word he writes. And he likes the sauce? Sounds like our kind of
writer."
--Eater.com, 8/30/10 "Superbly informative, entertaining, and yet
deeply subversive."
--Anthony Bourdain, author of Medium Raw and Kitchen
Confidential "In his first book, Wilson, the spirits columnist
for the Washington Post, has concocted an idiosyncratic exploration
of the world of spirits. His primary ingredients include heavy
doses of cocktail recipes, travelogues, history lessons, polemics
against popular trends (flavored vodka is his primary target), all
mixed together with a dash of autobiography. Wilson's bibulous
quest takes him across Europe and the Americas, where he quaffs
everything from Genever and Calvados to a ejo tequilas and a
substance called "Peanut Lolita." As he drinks his way around the
world, Wilson also examines the myriad ways in which alcohol has
shaped culture and his own suburban New Jersey upbringing. Wilson
sees the American obsession with flavored vodka as part of the long
hangover from Prohibition. Yet he also discerns a growing American
interest in more complex spirits, and he makes it his mission to
introduce readers to the delights of arcane substances like
Chartreuse and Tuaca. Wilson succeeds in his pose as an American
everyman abroad...Yet he has done his readers a real service: with
cocktail recipes at the end of each chapter, Boozehound serves as a
smooth personalized guide to classy mixology. (Oct.)"
--Publishers Weekly, 6/28/10 "There's nobody I'd rather read
on the subject of booze than Jason Wilson. Smart, funny,
illuminating, and opinionated, this is a book I'll return to
often--both when I need a good read, and when I need a good
drink."
--Molly Wizenberg, creator of Orangette and author of A Homemade
Life "Boozehound takes you behind the labels and delves
deeply--and humorously--into the world of liquors and libations.
I've had the pleasure to sip, swirl, and savor a cocktail (or two)
with Jason Wilson, and with this collection of highly spirited
stories and recipes, you can too."
--David Lebovitz, author of Ready for Dessert and The
Sweet Life in Paris "Jason Wilson's overworked liver is a
national treasure. A deeply entertaining guide to the periodic
table of liquors, Boozehound is a serious fount of
pleasures, chief among them Wilson himself: doggedly curious,
acidly opinionated, refreshingly irreverent, and epically
thirsty."
--Jonathan Miles, author of Dear American Airlines and
former cocktail columnist for the New York Times
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