Download The Dedalus Book Of Absinthe (Dedalus Concept Books) Written By Phil Baker Audio Books

examination of the relationship between absinthe and the poets and painters who drank it, This book examines the history and culture behind the mystery of the quintessential "green fairy," and explains the stigma behind the wonderful concoction, It makes me want to grab my glass, sugar cube, and slotted spoon right now! The first half was a great bolt out of the gate and tremendous good fun.
Then it finished up in smartly competent fashionall of which somehow or other reminded me of the 'Tigers, : Not a very smooth read, this one's more of a survey of where absinthe is referenced in art and literature, It jumps around from the lateth century to the lateth and briefly touches on references/cultural significance, historical provenance, the resurgence of absinthe in the contemporary U.
S. and the U. K. , the science of absinthe and its effects, and includes a neat little section reviewing a handful of current brands, There's also an appendix of writings from the lateth century that feature absinthe prominently, The author also indulges in some extensive descriptions of visual art pieces that feature absinthe, but unfortunately does not include the images themselves,

The Book of Absinthe is potentially a treasure trove for the absinthe enthusiast, I am not an absinthe enthusiast, but I still learned some neat stuff and added a couple of fin de siecle French and British poets that I'd not previously encountered to my reading list.
Largely entertaining and informative exploration of the history, culture and science of this most notorious of liqueurs, Felt a bit slight, though I'm not sure what else there could have been to say, Pretty entertaining. If you know the art and literature/poetry of the times, then you definetly need to check this out, The book humanizes these artists that have gotten away with becoming quasimartyrs, Many of their lives were filled with psycoactive drugs and young boys, If this was bohemian culture, I find it hard to belive that they were the only segment of French and British society that was caught up in their selfish exploration of "self".

There are connections between this countreculture and the counterculture of thes, Same selfish exploration under the false perception of "figuring out the world through mind expansion", The hippies of thes are discussed here, It's the booze, not the wormwood, Great reserch job. Funny, smart and dark, loved it, La Fée Verte . . the Green Fairy, drink of European poets and writers of theth century, destroyer of lives, and surrounded by myth, Often compared to hallucinogenic drugs, it is rumored to cause delirium and homicidal mania, But does it really

The author takes an unusual approach to the subject by spending much of his time describing the lives and writings of those famous and not so famous absintheurs.
This slows down the narrative but stick with it as he finally arrives at the discussion of the drink and the myth that surrounds it, He even rates the brands available in those countries where it is still legal, True absinthe is at leastalcohol and contains wormwood, While it is not proven that the amount of wormwood causes hallucinations, the alcohol content is enough to put you away after two glasses! Additionally, there is the ritual of absinthe preparation the spoon, the sugar, and the water which adds to the mystique.


So if you want to test the strength and mystery of absinthe, try the La Fée brand from France where is it manufactured strictly for export since it is illegal in that country.
You may have to go to Spain to drink it but be prepared and take a nondrinker with you to ensure that you don't spend the night in a gutter!!

An interesting and unusual book.
It actually doesn't deserve more than two, but absinthe is so fucking fantastic that I gave it one more just for exquisite taste in subject matter.
The fourth star is because Marcus Kwok, the best person in the world, gave it to me it is thus full of love,

As opposed to reading this admittedly overrated claptrap about absinthe, just go drink it until you're blind in a gutter, Two weeks later, you won't remember either experience anyway,

I'm glad I didn't allow my initial discouragement about this not being a big collection of absinthe short stories discourage me, In the end there was a few tales and poems about the subject and once I got over the authors cheeky style it was really just purely informative and i'm glad I read it.
the green monster! A good tangential review of French poets and poetry, pretty well referenced, This isn't a money grab, snippets of Google research, Absinthe itself is for poseurs now, but was probably better back when it was a stronger drink, According to the book, the absinthe now is much weaker,

With Flowers and With Woman
Charles Cros

With Flowers, and with Women,
With Absinthe, and with this Fire,
We can divert ourselves a while,
Act out our part in some drama.


Absinthe, on a winter evening,
Lights up in green the sooty soul


And Flowers, on the beloved,
Grow fragrant before the clear Fire.


Later, kisses lose their charm
Having lasted several seasons
And after mutual betrayals
We part one day without a tear,

We burn letters and bouquets,
And fire takes our bower
And if sad life is salvaged
Still there is Absinthe and its hiccups, .

The portraits are eaten by flames, .
Shrivelled fingers tremble. .
We die from sleeping long
With Flowers, and with Women,
PreU. S. /European legalization history of the tasty beverage, Unlike Verlaine and all his imitators including Picasso, I've never had the urge to whip out a revolver on a friend but then again maybe there's never been enough wormwood in my bottles.
I'm OK with that. My first and only experience with the green fairy involved a parking lot outside a death metal show somewhere in Hamtramck, where I was plied with something I was told was absinthe that was contained in a Mountain Dew bottle.


This book got me unecessarily excited by repeating the story going around that the Russian word for absinthe is "chernobyl," but alas, that is the word for wormwood's less glamorous cousin, mugwort.
disillusioned

Interesting book, but haphazardly punctuated,

Three Oscar Wilde said absinthe ", . . creates genius where it previously wasn't, and destroys it were it once was, . . ".