On this day in 1933 the ban on James Joyce’s Ulysses was lifted in the United States.
“Irish novelist and poet James Augustine Aloysius Joyce is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the modernist avant-garde. Joyce was a notorious binge drinker, who was adamant that he could not write as well without the aid of alcohol. During his time living in Paris Joyce was a drinking buddy of Ernest Hemingway. The slightly-built Joyce was said to often start bar fights and then hide behind the much bigger Hemingway.”
Option #1:
Jameson Irish Whiskey
Option #2:
White wine
- Which option would I choose: #1 of course, I am not much of a white wine drinker.
- Binge drinking? If forced to read Ulysses it would make sense to go on a life threatening bender lasting until the book was banned once again.
- Bar fights? There was a time when I experienced the opposite of the Hemingway/Joyce technique. While in New Orleans for Madri Gras, Ed Hoff who was much taller than I would stand behind me and start an argument. Speed was an asset in exiting the bar to safety.
- But what about Hemingway? See option #3 below
- Thoughts about Option 3? This is something I used to drink years ago. It’s about time to bring it out of retirement. Also time to re-read Islands in the Stream.
Option #3:
From a Hemingway novel, “Islands in the Stream” an interesting variation on the classic Tom Collins. In the Hemingway variant, gin is mixed with coconut water and lime juice over ice and then topped with Angostura bitters.