“The self is a slippery beast,” my colleague Peter wrote last year, in his praise for Sarah Miller’s ayahuasca travelogue. In her latest, the beast isn’t merely slippery—it’s lubricated. Miller, a longtime drinker, recounts her roundabout path to unexpected sobriety with characteristic humor and enviable precision.
My drunken bonding with the editor didn’t feel fake, as some alcohol-induced connection does, but it would have been very difficult to arrange without the excuse of drinking. Imagine asking a person you barely know to have a long, intimate conversation with you. In the Big Book, there’s a phrase that begins, “with all the earnestness at our command.” Before giving up drinking, I had very little earnestness at my command. I drank in order to give myself permission to talk openly, or at great length, or to heighten the sensation of listening or being listened to. Drinking is way easier than saying that you want to talk to someone, or don’t. I learned this in my childhood home, where my parents would be downstairs at the same time for hours, absolutely silent. At six o’clock, I would hear the ice cubes, and at 6:02, the talking.
To drink, or not to drink? More pics about shifting relationships with alcohol
Pour One Out
“Why was it common knowledge yesterday that alcohol in moderation is good for you, but it’s common knowledge today that no amount of alcohol is OK?”
Does Cycling Have a Drinking Problem?
“Bikes and booze have been linked for decades, but research shows there is no such thing as a healthy amount of alcohol.”
How Athletic Beer Won Over America
“Nonalcoholic beers used to be a lowly punch line—until Athletic Brewing Company came along and transformed the whole industry. Here’s the story of how, in just a few short years, its cofounders built a modern $60 million brand.”
The Last Days of Mezcal
“Can the world’s most beautiful spirit survive its own boom?”
A Middle-Aged Dad Visits Downhill Skiing’s Rowdiest Party. What Could Go Wrong?
“Our writer endured boozy days, sleepless nights in a hostel, and edge-of-your-seat racing at Kitzbühel’s legendary Hahnenkamm.”
How the Irish Pub Became One of the Emerald Isle’s Greatest Exports
“The Dublin-based Irish Pub Company has designed upwards of 2,000 pubs in more than 100 countries around the globe.”
