Culture

Sunday Reading: Cocktail Hour


There’s an old legend about the novelist Ernest Hemingway “liberating” the bar at the Hotel Ritz in Paris with a group of soldiers, in 1944. Hemingway was known to be partial to Martinis and Daiquiris, and was in good company among acclaimed writers and artists in documenting his personal notions of a well-concocted cocktail. This week, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about alcohol and the cultural influence of various spirits. In “Manhattan,” the novelist Chang-rae Lee reflects on a summer spent in New York, during the nineteen-eighties, when he learned how to make the perfect drink of that name. In “Mezcal Sunrise,” Dana Goodyear travels to Mexico to explore innovative new kinds of artisanal mezcal. In “The Intoxicating History of Gin,” Anthony Lane examines the persistent popularity of that spirit, and of the Martini. Finally, in “A Few Too Many,” Joan Acocella writes about the history of the hangover and all of its attendant remedies. We hope that these stories add some zest to your weekend. Careful not to overdo it—otherwise, you’ll be reading Acocella’s piece as a prescription.

David Remnick


Playing the high life.


Illustration by Bjorn Lie

Searching for the ultimate artisanal distillate.


The current gin craze knows no bounds, but the British have been imbibing the stuff for hundreds of years, sometimes with disastrous results.


Illustration by Floc’h

Is there any hope for the hungover?




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