Of All the Gin Joints

Of All the Gin Joints cover

Of All the Gin Joints is a wonderful read for anyone interested in Hollywood history and/or alcohol — and really, can the two be separated?

Mark Bailey has assembled in one volume short profiles of movie stars and writers, particularly those notable for how much they imbibed; their often notorious incidents involving drinking; descriptions of famous clubs and watering holes from the past; scenes from classic movies affected by alcohol; and classic cocktail recipes. I wanted to try them all, from the Cocoanut Grove to the Orange Blossom to the Vesper Martini!

Of All the Gin Joints cover

Of All the Gin Joints — title taken, of course, from the famous Bogart line from Casablanca — is an excellent time capsule, evoking memories of Hollywood from its earliest days up through the 1970s. The saddest part of the book is how some of the landmarks, gloriously described, no longer exist, replaced by apartments or strip malls.

(The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)



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