Drinking in America: Our Secret History

Written by Susan Cheever

Narrated by Barbara Benjamin Creel

In Drinking in America, bestselling author Susan Cheever chronicles our national love affair with liquor, taking a long, thoughtful look at the way alcohol has changed our nation's history. This is the often-overlooked story of how alcohol has shaped American events and the American character from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.

Seen through the lens of alcoholism, American history takes on a vibrancy and a tragedy missing from many earlier accounts. From the drunkenness of the Pilgrims to Prohibition hijinks, drinking has always been a cherished American custom: a way to celebrate and a way to grieve and a way to take the edge off. At many pivotal points in our history-the illegal Mayflower landing at Cape Cod, the enslavement of African Americans, the McCarthy witch hunts, and the Kennedy assassination, to name only a few-alcohol has acted as a catalyst.

Some nations drink more than we do, some drink less, but no other nation has been the drunkest in the world as America was in the 1830s only to outlaw drinking entirely a hundred years later. Both a lively history and an unflinching cultural investigation, Drinking in America unveils the volatile ambivalence within one nation's tumultuous affair with alcohol.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781611135299

Susan Cheever

Susan Cheever is the bestselling author of thirteen previous books, including five novels and the memoirs Note Found in a Bottle and Home Before Dark. Her work has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Boston Globe Winship Medal. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of the Corporation of Yaddo, and a member of the Author's Guild Council. She teaches in the Bennington College M.F.A. program. She lives in New York City with her family.

Reviews for Drinking in America

[valerieandbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a deep history, but a broad overview on how America was influenced by drinking habits of its people. This book begins with the Mayflower's arrival (beer was served at the first Thanksgiving. Something we certainly didn't learn in elementary school), touches upon the issues leading to Prohibition, and towards the end discusses individuals, who happened to be alcoholics, who shaped American history (examples include Presidents Grant and Nixon).

This book includes a lot of fascinating tidbits. For instance, the breed of apples Johnny Appleseed planted were intended for hard cider, not for snacking on.

I felt that the sections that covered historical events were stronger than when the author discussed historical people. The author is a recovered alcoholic, as was her dad John Cheever, so at times she was more subjective than necessary -- and while not outright stating that alcohol was evil, she was a tad bit preachy a couple times. With that caveat, I would recommend this book as a good overview on the subject -- it made me want to read more about Prohibition.

[knightlight777 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A well written book surveying the history of drinking in America that offers insights both pro and con on our country's bout with bottle over several centuries. Cheever writing from an alcoholic background looks at a number of historical topics in our past that sheds light on how drinking influenced events that we take for granted and that traditional historians exclude some of the finer details.

There is much here that I certainly was not aware of and it gave me quite a different perspective on how some of these events and how our culture at large were greatly influenced by our relationship with alcohol and certainly some of the key individuals and their relationship with the same.

Definitely a history lesson well worth the time and thought. The book flows through our history, no pun intended, and may even give us some insight into our own relationship with this influential liquid.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED this book! I'm a huge fan of micro-histories, and while this subject is a little broad it all come back to the booze. Soo intriguing! Author, Susan Cheever, does a brilliant job of cataloging many of the incidents that helped make America great and then launches in to how booze played a part. Trust me, a big part. Why did the pilgrims land at Plymouth? Because they were running out of beer and didn't think they could make it to the land they were actually granted. Why did everyone really love Johnny Appleseed? Because the nasty apple trees he planted weren't good for eating but WERE good for turning into cider. How much did soldiers drink in the American Revolution and the Civil War? Triple what you thought, maybe more. How did booze play a part in President KEnnedy's assassination? His security detail had partied hard the night before and were too hungover to react quickly. My view of American history is forever altered. Booze has been present every step of our country's way and it is NEVER mentioned (unless it's about the prohibition). Cheever talks about how laws have changed as is how we define drunkenness. In the eighteenth century this little diddy helped define who was drunk: "Not drunk is he who from the floor, / Can rise again and still drink more, / But drunk is he who prostrate lies, / Without the power to drink or rise." I doubt that version of sobriety would pass today. In fact during the 1820's Americans were drinking TRIPLE what we consume today!! Crazy! Cheever doesn't condone drinking but she does a great job of illustrating the negative AND positive effects booze has had on our country. A fascinating book!