A Question for those who have read Minnick's "Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an Amercian Whiskey"

[IamMatt]

Did you find typographical errors in your copy?  I'm about 40% through and the inset on page 96  says "...medicinal whiskey efforts certainly played a ROLL..." when it should say "ROLE." 

 

And a sentence on page 109 has me baffled.  Referring to voting in favor of modifying Prohibition, it quotes a Literary Digest article saying:  "They argue that many sincere Prohibitionists, DISGUISED WITH THEIR SCANDALS of enforcement and envious for reform, have marked the modification square as a compromise, rather than a vote either for repeal or a continuation of present conditions."  Maybe I am just missing something, but the phrase in caps makes no sense to me.  How were they "disguised?"   I wonder if it was supposed to say "DISGUSTED BY THE SCANDALS."  Could be the original article is quoted accurately but written clumsily, or something got messed up in the publishing of the book.

 

Any thoughts?

[Harry in WashDC]

Yup.  When I read it shortly after it came out, I assumed that the errors in it, like the ones you noted, were due to (1) his dictating the book and an inattentive transcriber coupled with (B) a lazy editor and (III) no volunteer proof readers before final printing.  All these are understandable as when the book was published ( 2015?) no one knew the bourbon craze would last as long as it has and one must “strike while the iron is hot.”  Fred’s later book, “Bourbon Curious” is much better all around.

 

FWIW, the first Minnick book I read was “Camera Boy” about his time in the Army in Iraq as a photo-journalist.  Since then, I’ve read just about everything he’s written. Good and “bad”.  Well, I skipped the rum book.

 

Going to put a plug in here — wife gave me Clay Risen’s Dec 2021 coffee table book on “Bourbon”.  He writes for The NY Times and has posted on SB occasionally.  I mention it because it sits on my shelf next to books by Cowdery, Veach, Mitenbuler, and some others and near a few more books generally discussing the history, science, and business of distilled spirits.  It is a beautiful book and is well written.  Expensive, though.  And, I found no typos or awkward sentences . . .

[IamMatt]

I will keep those authors' books in mind when making up gift lists.  I have recently read and enjoyed "Pappyland" by Wright Thompson and "Southern Spirits" by Robert Moss.

[Kepler]

We are all better off now knowing about the typos in a book.  My life is complete now

[fishnbowljoe]

Chuck Cowdery and Mike Veach are historians/writers. Not sure what Fred is. 🫣

 

Biba! Joe

[0895]

2 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Chuck Cowdery and Mike Veach are historians/writers. Not sure what Fred is. 🫣

 

Biba! Joe

He’s a

“social media bourbon influencer”

 

C’mon Joe.  Try to keep up.

[fishnbowljoe]

12 minutes ago, 0895 said:

He’s a

“social media bourbon influencer”

 

C’mon Joe.  Try to keep up.

Keep goin’ Tim. I’ll get there sooner or later. ‍

 

Biba! Joe

[Harry in WashDC]

3 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Chuck Cowdery and Mike Veach are historians/writers. Not sure what Fred is. 🫣

 

Biba! Joe

LOVE this post, Joe.  “Fan” comes to mind.

[0895]

28 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Keep goin’ Tim. I’ll get there sooner or later. ‍

 

Biba! Joe

 

You’ve probably had enough bourbon for tonight.

hopefully @Clueby isn’t too insulted…

[fishnbowljoe]

50 minutes ago, 0895 said:

 

You’ve probably had enough bourbon for tonight.

hopefully @Clueby isn’t too insulted…

  
Ooops! Sorry Eric. I had some fun banter with Tim earlier. Part of it involved you Mizou guys. All in good fun. Also and FWIW, my problem is probably that I haven’t had any bourbon in a while.

 

Biba! Joe

[Old Hippie]

Sometimes they leave in small typos (like Roll Vs. Role) That most readers would glide over without noticing in order to catch cut and paste plagiarizers.

Have no idea if that was the case here or not.