IamMatt Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 I am about 3/4 through and wondering if anyone else has found it to have a really negative tone? It has a lot of good history, but it feels like it was written by someone very angry. Or as if his editor said, "Write about the history of bourbon, warts and all" and he didn't read the "and all" part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmatley Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Just read through a good portion in Google preview. Great read. Love the informal, anecdotal style of writing. I didn't get so much anger as journalistic expose on an industry built on myths, marketing and monopolies. Of course, this was just a portion of the book but very enjoyable. Thanks for the heads up on the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Critical Bourbon Theory... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamMatt Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 That's a good analogy. One view of Critical Race Theory is that we have already been given a sanitized view of history and culture so giving the negatives is needed; the other view is that CRT is only negative and what is needed is a balanced view. The book seems to take the former approach to bourbon history, intent almost exclusively on destroying the myths, exposing the negative underside of its history and business, and savaging many of the characters involved rather than giving a balanced view. I am concurrently reading "Pappyland" which is very different. Not quite hagiographic, but certainly a very sympathetic biographical history (or historical biography) so the contrast is quite sharp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTen Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 5 hours ago, IamMatt said: ". . . hagiographic " Sorry, I didn't go to an Ivy League college for English Lit - just a little technical school down the river from Havahd. WTF??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamMatt Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 45 minutes ago, GeeTen said: Sorry, I didn't go to an Ivy League college for English Lit - just a little technical school down the river from Havahd. WTF??? Neither did I, but I alacritously endeavor to obviate any lacunae in my vocabulary lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTen Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Woof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamMatt Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 So I just finished Chapter 16 which discusses Makers Mark and it seems like a completely different writer. Either he cheered or he is a big MM fanboy. His writing is much more positive now. Curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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