The Wet and the Dry: A Drinker's Journey

<b><b>Selected as a Top Ten Book of the Year by Dwight Garner, <i>New York Times</i></b><br><br>A &quot;fearlessly honest account&quot; (<i>Financial Times</i>) of man's love of drink, and an insightful meditation on the meaning of alcohol consumption across cultures worldwide</b><br> <br>Drinking alcohol: a beloved tradition, a dangerous addiction, even &quot;a sickness of the soul&quot; (as once described by a group of young Muslim men in Bali) . In his wide-ranging travels, Lawrence Osborne - a veritable connoisseur himself - has witnessed opposing views of alcohol across cultures worldwide, compelling him to wonder: is drinking alcohol a sign of civilization and sanity, or the very reverse? Where do societies fall on the spectrum between indulgence and restraint? <br> <br>An immersing, controversial, and often irreverent travel narrative,<i> The Wet and the Dry</i> offers provocative, sometimes unsettling insights into the deeply embedded conflicts between East and West, and the surprising influence of drinking on the contemporary world today.