“Why do writers drink so much?” Dr. Lawrence Samuels asked in a January article in Psychology Today. I can only answer for myself, but it would be very difficult to write a blog about bars without drinking in those bars -- so I need to have at least one drink every week.
Yeah, it’s quite a pace to keep up.
Samuels lists a number of writers who had drinking problems, from the father of American alcoholic writers, Edgar Allen Poe, to Zelda’s true love F. Scott Fitzgerald; from my favorite mystery writer, Raymond Chandler to the Queen of Snark, Dorothy Parker; from lowercase poet E.E. Cummings to depressing playwright Eugene O'Neill; and so many more. Not that I, Dean Anderson, should be compared to these great writers, but my name *is* right there in the same paragraph. I think you can draw your own conclusion.
“Hey,” you might be saying, “Those people wrote whole books, not just short blog posts.”
First of all, imaginary outspoken reader, may I correct you? Some of those writers were playwrights. Others were poets. They weren’t necessarily writing “books.” In addition, I’m pleased to share the good news that we finally have a book, not just a bunch of blogs.
Cheers and Amen, the book about our year-long attempt to visit a bar and a church in every state, will be available on Amazon well before Independence Day. In preparation, we'll be reading, selling, and signing copies at two bars in Sonoma County, Dukes in Healdsburg (Monday, June 18 at 7:00 pm) and Final Edition in Santa Rosa (Tuesday, June 19 at 7:00 pm).
Not to worry, we’ll be going to a new bar next week (in a state other than California!), and we expect to visit new bars all month. You might be a little torn, though. We know you’ll want to get started reading Cheers and Amen.
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