Overview

Originally published in 1998. From its contested origins in nineteenth-century California; through its popularity among the smart set of the 1930s, world leaders of the 1940s, and the men in the gray flannel suits of the 1950s; to its resurgence among today's retro-hipsters: Lowell Edmunds traces the history and cultural significance of the cocktail H. L. Mencken called ""the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet.""

Full Product Details

Author:   Lowell Edmunds (Professor, Rutgers University)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9781421437675

ISBN 10:   1421437678
Pages:   200
Publication Date:   19 May 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface to the Revised Edition Preface to the First Edition Introduction Time Line. The Martini Decade by Decade The Simple Messages of the Martini Message One. The Martini is American—it is not European, Asian, or African Message Two. The Martini is urban and urbane—it is not rural or rustic Message Three. The Martini is a high-status, not a low-status, drink Message Four. The Martini is a man's, not a woman's, drink Message Five. The Martini is optimistic, not pessimistic Messgae Six. The Martini is the drink of adults, not of children Message Seven. The Martini belongs to the past, not the present The Simple Messages Reconsidered The Ambiguities of the Martini Ambiguity One. The Martini is civilized—the Martini is uncivilized Ambiguity Two. The Martini unites—the Martini separates Ambiguity Three. The Martini is classic—the Martini is individual Ambiguity Four. The Martini is sensitive—the Martini is tough Historical Background of the Ambiguities Conclusion Theory, Method, and Bibliography Appendix. The Martini Glass Notes Index

Reviews

[Edmunds] brings the rigor and thoroughness of a true scholar to the study of the Martini's place in American culture. --Well Fed Network Edmunds treats us to a cultural history of the martini, from its origins in the Gilded Age to its 1990s symbolism... The drink may be dry, but this book is anything but. --Lori D. Kranz Bloomsbury Review Equal parts academic study, critical appraisal, and love letter, this book sees the martini as the liquid equivalent of jazz--a marvelous and misunderstood American art form... Edmunds fashions a convincing theory that places the feisty cocktail at the very heart of American civilization. --Stephen Whitlock Out Magazine. Few drinks achieve such complex and ambiguous symbolism as the martini, and likely few writers could decode it as well as the polished Edmunds... Such is the unadorned pleasure of Edmunds's book, its rare scholarly intimacy, that there can be little doubt that he delighted in his fieldwork very much. --Kirkus Reviews Whether or not you take your martini as seriously as Lowell Edmunds, this is an admirable account of the drink's place in the American dream. --Justin Warshaw Times Literary Supplement Edmunds seems to have unearthed every reference to the martini since its creation sometime in the 1870s, and by researching recipe books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he has painstakingly reconstructed the actual history of a cocktail swaddled in myth. He tracked down the first shipment of French vermouth to the United States (from Noilly Prat, in 1851). He got the lowdown on Sherwood Anderson's unfortunate death-by-toothpick after drinking a martini. He compiled a list of every martini cartoon ever to appear in the New Yorker. The martini is the last word on cocktails. This book is the last word on the martini. --William Grimes New York Times

Whether or not you take your martini as seriously as Lowell Edmunds, this is an admirable account of the drink's place in the American dream. -- Justin Warshaw * Times Literary Supplement * Edmunds seems to have unearthed every reference to the martini since its creation sometime in the 1870s, and by researching recipe books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he has painstakingly reconstructed the actual history of a cocktail swaddled in myth. He tracked down the first shipment of French vermouth to the United States (from Noilly Prat, in 1851). He got the lowdown on Sherwood Anderson's unfortunate death-by-toothpick after drinking a martini. He compiled a list of every martini cartoon ever to appear in the New Yorker. The martini is the last word on cocktails. This book is the last word on the martini. -- William Grimes * New York Times * Few drinks achieve such complex and ambiguous symbolism as the martini, and likely few writers could decode it as well as the polished Edmunds... Such is the unadorned pleasure of Edmunds's book, its rare scholarly intimacy, that there can be little doubt that he delighted in his fieldwork very much. * Kirkus Reviews * Equal parts academic study, critical appraisal, and love letter, this book sees the martini as the liquid equivalent of jazz-a marvelous and misunderstood American art form... Edmunds fashions a convincing theory that places the feisty cocktail at the very heart of American civilization. -- Stephen Whitlock * Out Magazine. * Edmunds treats us to a cultural history of the martini, from its origins in the Gilded Age to its 1990s symbolism... The drink may be dry, but this book is anything but. -- Lori D. Kranz * Bloomsbury Review * [Edmunds] brings the rigor and thoroughness of a true scholar to the study of the Martini's place in American culture. * Well Fed Network *

[Edmunds] brings the rigor and thoroughness of a true scholar to the study of the Martini's place in American culture. --Well Fed Network Edmunds treats us to a cultural history of the martini, from its origins in the Gilded Age to its 1990s symbolism... The drink may be dry, but this book is anything but. --Lori D. Kranz Bloomsbury Review Equal parts academic study, critical appraisal, and love letter, this book sees the martini as the liquid equivalent of jazz--a marvelous and misunderstood American art form... Edmunds fashions a convincing theory that places the feisty cocktail at the very heart of American civilization. --Stephen Whitlock Out Magazine. Few drinks achieve such complex and ambiguous symbolism as the martini, and likely few writers could decode it as well as the polished Edmunds... Such is the unadorned pleasure of Edmunds's book, its rare scholarly intimacy, that there can be little doubt that he delighted in his fieldwork very much. --Kirkus Reviews Edmunds seems to have unearthed every reference to the martini since its creation sometime in the 1870s, and by researching recipe books from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he has painstakingly reconstructed the actual history of a cocktail swaddled in myth. He tracked down the first shipment of French vermouth to the United States (from Noilly Prat, in 1851). He got the lowdown on Sherwood Anderson's unfortunate death-by-toothpick after drinking a martini. He compiled a list of every martini cartoon ever to appear in the New Yorker. The martini is the last word on cocktails. This book is the last word on the martini. --William Grimes New York Times Whether or not you take your martini as seriously as Lowell Edmunds, this is an admirable account of the drink's place in the American dream. --Justin Warshaw Times Literary Supplement

Author Information

Lowell Edmunds is a professor of classics at Rutgers University.

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