Description

This bestselling memoir from a seasoned New York City reporter is “a vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction” (New York Times).

As a child during the Depression and World War II, Pete Hamill learned early that drinking was an essential part of being a man, inseparable from the rituals of celebration, mourning, friendship, romance, and religion. Only later did he discover its ability to destroy any writer’s most valuable tools: clarity, consciousness, memory.

In A Drinking Life, Hamill explains how alcohol slowly became a part of his life, and how he ultimately left it behind. Along the way, he summons the mood of an America that is gone forever, with the bittersweet fondness of a lifelong New Yorker.

“Magnificent. A Drinking Life is about growing up and growing old, working and trying to work, within the culture of drink.” —Boston Globe

Praise

"Magnificent. A Drinking Life is about growing up and growing old, working and trying to work, within the culture of drink." —Boston Globe
"A vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction. Tough-minded, brimming with energy, and unflinchingly honest." —New York Times
"A remarkable memoir. Energetic, compelling, very funny, and remarkably--indeed, often brutally--candid, Hamill's tale won't soon be forgotten. An author of rare distinction and moral force." —Entertainment Weekly
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