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To Have And Have Another A Hemingway Cocktail Companion

  • Rating: 10
  • Value: 10
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Mr Greene has captured the magic of Hemingway in a bottle and teaches you how to build your own through this book.

Title :To Have And Have Another
Subtitle :A Hemingway Cocktail Companion
Author : Phillip Greene
Publisher:Perigee (Division of Penguin Group)
Type: History and Recipes
Binding:Hardcover, Illustrated, 293 pages
Cost: $24.00 US

REVIEWED BY: Chris Carlsson, Spirits Review.com

Notes: An excellent and scholarly work just not on Hemingway, but what he and the characters in his books drank along with recipes for same and lots of good citations and references for each drink.
Hemingway as David Wondrich points out in the foreword, is one of those writers who chronicles the drinks their characters have, one of those charming details that add to the rich tapestry of a good novel, much the way say Allan Furst details a scene in prewar Paris with mentions of lighting Balkan Sobranie cigarettes (full disclosure – I love those too and the mention brings back nostalgia of the scent and fullness of their smoke, and the wonderful tins they came in).
Details like these make for a much richer and fuller tapestry in writing, and give a depth and connect to a story without which would read more like a narrative rather than an immersive experience using ones senses, memory and imagination to weave a seductive tapestry for the mind.
Mr Greene has captured this magic of Hemingway in a bottle and teaches you how to build your own through this book.

The book starts of with a short exploration of just this topic – how Hemingway was able to conjure up or capture the feel of a place and its denizens though the evocative writing with attention to detail in food and drink that engage the reader.
It hen starts in on the how to part as it were with a list of bar tools, a reading list, then gets into the meat of the book, the drink recipes with backgrounds on the ingredients, short stories and/or citations and suggested readings (always an important idea with cocktails) with 56 recipes and a list of 17 other alcohols with citations that Hemingway imbibed it does indeed give you a flavor ( no pun really intended) of both the man and his writings, and a damn good cocktail book both for recipes and history that you can enjoy by yourself or share with others. Like tales, good cocktails are best shared,with this book you can do both.

Final Thoughts: An excellent and entertaining read with a deft mixing of good recipes, stories and just enough information to make it a rich, short but pleasurable adventure in cocktails with every recipe.

Website: While there is a To Have and Have Another page, it is merely a placeholder site that gives you information on the book itself. For a much more entertaining alternative, follow Mr Greene on twitter at https://twitter.com/philipgreene

There is also a Facebook page with updates on the book and related rum and cocktail news updated regularly at : https://www.facebook.com/ToHaveAndHaveAnotherAHemingwayCocktailCompanion

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