Reading Under the Influence

re: Reading Under the Influence

profrobert — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:50:29 GMT

Wait, Anna, since when are single malts the only true "scotch"? On that theory, neither Chivas nor Usquaebach are true scotches, as both are blends. J&B is not good scotch, but it is made from scotch whiskey; it's certainly not a bourbon.

re: Reading Under the Influence

Anna — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:42:27 GMT

Geez profrobert, my Scot grandpa is rolling in his grave at your insistence that J&B is a scotch and while their website may really want people to consider it one, its a mixed whiskey, and so not technically a pure scotch.

re: Reading Under the Influence

profrobert — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:36:25 GMT

No, Matt, J&B *is* scotch, as indicated by its website http://www.jbscotch.com/About (note the NAME of the website, jbSCOTCH.com (emphasis added)). It may not be *good* scotch whiskey, but it is scotch whiskey.

Matt, do you do any research or work here, or do you just post stuff that comes out your ass?

re: Reading Under the Influence

Scanner Matt — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:25:25 GMT

CORRECTIONS:

Just a few notes about the post in response to the comments.

J&B is not scotch. It's technically referred to as American whiskey, though most American whiskeys are considered bourbons this specific brand is debateable. I apologize for the reference.

More importantly, in response to Jenny, who is completely right, I also apologize. I was trying to write to a broader audience and use some classics and unfortunately represented the old white male canon, who really don't need any more recognition. I'm sadly a product of my education. How about these?

Kelly Link (my favorite is Stranger Things Happen)and a micro-brew six pack (as her press is called, Small Beer Press)

Chinua Achebe and some palm wine-Things Fall Apart

Margaret Atwood and a bottle of Canadian Club-I like The Blind Assassin

Anything by Jane Bowles and a bottle of wine, whiskey or both

re: Reading Under the Influence

Gabi — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:54:12 GMT

how about Whores for Gloria by william t vollman and a case of bud?

The great shark hunt and a bottle fo tequila, with margarita mixer?

Dharma bums and an assload of cheap red wine?

you guys missed some obvious ones.

re: Reading Under the Influence

Daniel J Dwyer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:50:47 GMT

Oh, also, while it's a fantastic work by a Russian author, Lolita is not Russian literature. It was written in English while Nabokov was living in the States, nearly forty years after he fled Russia during the Revolution.

re: Reading Under the Influence

Daniel J Dwyer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:47:07 GMT

If you're going Russian, don't waste your time on Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. These two are far more revered outside of Russia than they are within, and both of them write in a very dry style that is atypical of the great Russian writers. If you have to read these two, skip War and Peace and Crime and Punishment in favor of: by Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyitch (a novella which typically is published in a collection along with his better short stories), Anna Karenina, or The Cossacks; by Dostoevsky, The Idiot or the Brother's Karamazov. Or, if you'd rather read the truly beloved and ingenious classics of Russia, read Chekov's plays and short stories, Babel's short stories, Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, Sologub's The Petty Demon and poetry, Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog or The Master and Margarita, Pushkin's short stories and, of course, Eugene Onegin, and, my favorite, absolutely everything by Gogol.

re: Reading Under the Influence

jenny — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:41:26 GMT

Wow those are all, with the exception of Dorothy P, books that were specifically mentioned by name in grad school as evil man-literature. haha

I imagine many women will nestle up with a bottle of cheap red wine and anything by Sophie Kinsella, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out.

What a great idea though. I'll have to think on this. Hmmm....

re: Reading Under the Influence

GeeBee — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:35:59 GMT

Take it from a Scot, J&B is barely Scotch. Unless you like it rough (your whisky that is).

re: Reading Under the Influence

jr — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:15:21 GMT

stolichnaya is NOT super russian. russkiy standart is the most russian you can buy in america.

re: Reading Under the Influence

profrobert — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:10:15 GMT

J&B (short for Justerini & Brooks) is a scotch, not a bourbon.