Slog - Comments on The Hero as a Boozer http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer In the last decades of his life, [Kingsley Amis] became a stickler for routine, finishing work at twelve noon, when the first Scotch was promptly downed, then to his club (the Garrick) for lunch, where he stayed drinking until five thirty, before leaving to be somewhere else for drinks at six. Every Thursday (or was it Saturday?), he went to dinner with his son, Martin, and daughter-in-law, Antonia, at Chesterton Road, and every Thursday (or was it Saturday?), he expected to be served the same meal—tinned potato salad and pressed tongue. He had no interest in food (“irrelevant rubbish,”... Copyright 2008 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:32:54 -0800 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:49:30 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf Ah, finally you get around to my hero. Not this Kingsley, the late drunk with the destroyed brain; the novelist and drinks expert.

But you fail to mention some of his other late failings: his habit, while deep in his cups, of screaming foul abuse at innocent people; for instance, shouting at them about what a vile terrorist bastard Nelson Mandela was. My favorite late anecdote was the time he accosted Claudio Abbado, the famous conductor, and, on the topic of Mozart, shouted "you don't know what you're talking about". Abbado, to his credit, merely stared at him for a few moments and then turned to someone else and changed the subject.

It's easy to forget that he was the best English novelist of the 20th century, possibly only exceeded by Waugh (who also had his little personality disorders).

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977293 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977293 Books Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:33:06 -0800 Comment by kerri harrop Being able to hold one's liquor is a mark of an excellent human being.

]]> kerri harrop http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977324 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977324 Books Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:01:42 -0800 Comment by Kathy Fennessy That is why Ireland is full of excellent human beings.

]]> Kathy Fennessy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977383 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977383 Books Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:00:19 -0800 Comment by irish descent Then again nothing is guaranteed. My dad was raised by two drink-happy Irish-Americans (both of whom lived well into their eighties), drank accordingly, and died of cirrhosis at 61.

Make sure your liver can handle it, ok?


]]> irish descent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977435 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/the_hero_as_a_boozer#c977435 Books Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:49:30 -0800