Have you ever wondered why some of the best writers become bloated alcoholics throughout their careers? Well, when life gives you lemons you find yourself a pinch of salt and a shot glass full of tequila. And believe me; these writers have had their fair share of vitamin C. For decades it seems a typewriter has always gone hand in hand with the degrading liquid drug, making the noblest of men raging lunatics and raging lunatics even more... well, crazy. And who knew this better than authors such as Hemingway, Bukowski and Faulkner – men who have plumbed the depths of human depravity and come up… well, drunk.

Now, if tales of over-indulgence and bourgeois lifestyles are what makes your heart beat faster, then these books should at least cater for your taste of the former. This is particularly so of Hunter S. Thompson’s earlier work, The Rum Diary, which was originally dropped after his failed attempt to get the thing published. Thompson is most famous for his later novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was later made in to the cult hit film of the same title starring Johnny Depp – Rum Diary is earmarked to get a similar reworking in celluloid. The story follows Paul Kemp, a tired journalist from New York, who has made a pilgrimage to Puerto Rico to work for a rundown newspaper, and on route treats himself to the beauty that is sun-drenched beaches and gratuitous amounts of Rum. After spending only a few days in Puerto Rico it becomes more and more apparent that it’s not quite the paradise destination that he had hope for. Based on the time he spent in the Caribbean, Thompson writes his prose like a man who was brought up on literary diet of George Orwell with a Rum chaser. While not entirely thought provoking, and more likely to bring you back down to earth with a thud, Thompson’s early novel is a great addition to the mid 19th century American ‘down and out’ library.

 

The second intoxicating book I received from Waterstones’ bulging shelves is Charles Jackson’s ‘The Lost Weekend’. The chronicle of a man who spends five days on an all out alcohol bender, which ends up with some more than morose occurrences. In Don Birnam, Jackson has found an incredible character. Many writers who have tried to portray alcoholics in literature often fail to create a complex background to their subject but Jackson gives richness to Birnam beyond the basic plot. This was also adapted to the big screen back in 1945 by celebrated director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) with Ray Milland playing the problem drinking protagonist. This book is not for the faint hearted, by any means. Expect a dark insight to alcoholism on the downtrodden streets of Manhattan.

Remember, you don’t always have to punish your liver in order to write the greatest book or find yourselves at 3:30 in the morning nose deep in your own vomit and urine... but it does make for good reading! So make sure you get a round in and I’ll meet you at the bar with the other broken heroes.  

The Books discusse.d on this page can be purchased at Waterstones

Words > Matthew 'Dungeon' Bunkell