I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine

by Roger Scruton

Overview

We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin. Whether or not good for the body, Scruton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts.

This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded.

In vino veritas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472969873
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	652,728
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sir Roger Scruton is widely seen as one of the greatest conservative thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and a polymath who wrote a wide array of fiction, non-fiction and reviews. He was the author of over fifty books.
A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, Scruton was Professor of Aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London; University Professor at Boston University, and a visiting professor at Oxford University. He was one of the founders of the Salisbury Review, contributed regularly to The Spectator, The Times and the Daily Telegraph and was for many years wine critic for the New Statesman. Sir Roger Scruton died in January 2020.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

1 Prelude 1

Part 1 I Drink

2 My Fall 9

3 Le Tour de France 29

4 News from Elsewhere 69

Part 2 Therefore I Am

5 Consciousness and Being 95

6 The Meaning of Wine 117

7 The Meaning of Whine 139

8 Being and Bingeing 165

Appendix: What to Drink with What 175

Index of Subjects 199

Index of Names 203

Index of Wines 209

Editorial Reviews

[Written with] customary brio” —Times Higher Education

“4 stars [Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before.” —Metro

“[Scruton] writes deliciously ... this book is a marvellous read - provocative, spicy, balanced and brimful of wise words ... it is hugely recommendable.” —The Oldie

“If you are searching for an interesting gift for the wine buff in your life, this will last a lot longer than another bottle of wine ... The greatest joy of this book is the appendix where [Scruton] suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise.” —The Bookbag

“A good-natured and witty exploration of the wine-drinking phenomenon, from its place in Christian worship to a sojourn down at the local bar.” —Good Book Guide

“I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to ... Scruton's book is for people who are already wine lovers and want to link their pleasure to a greater world outside” —The Spectator

“They don't come much more knowledgeable than Roger Scruton ... light-hearted but thought-provoking” —Bath Life

“By turns challenging, enjoyable, thought-provoking” —Times Literary Supplement

“He is by turns interesting, fatuous, informative, cranky, outrageous, rhetorically self-indulgent, and insightful...For general readers, and especially Monty Python fans, this book is great fun. Summing Up: Recommended.” —R.T. Lee, CHOICE

“[Scruton is] clearly a man of remarkable energy, art and scope ... [An] entertaining experience.” —The Australian

“Scruton liberally dispenses nuggets of wisdom throughout his book and very effectively uses personal narratives to make his case... the patient reader and drinker has much to glean by following the author's gustatory and thought-provoking journey in the world of wine.” —The European Legacy, Volume 16, Number 5

“A novel approach...there are nuggets of wisdom and insight.” —The Herald

“[An] elegant defense of wine and its place in society ... offers a window into an unusually original, subtle, and independent mind: the mind of a gifted philosopher ... all wine lovers should feel compelled to read him.” —The World of Fine Wine

“The third chapter is one of the finest expressions of reverence to French wines I have ever read - perfect for curling up with in front of the fire, with a large glass of claret.” —The Scotsman

“[Scruton] is no slouch when it comes to wine ... the first part of the book combines a memoir of his development as a "wino" (his word) with some useful tips and factoids ... in the book's second part ... he is good on wine as the expression of a place and community, on the nuances of intoxication and on the social beneficence of buying rounds.” —The Observer

“Spendid ... partly a serious guide to the wines of France, Italy, and Spain and (if you must) the "New World", it is also very funny ... this is one of Scruton's most enjoyable books, uncorking much wisdom, and concluding with a wicked guide to the right drink to take while reading various philosophers.” —Steven Poole, The Guardian

“Witty and philosophical.” —The Daily Telegraph

"Roger Scruton's 2009 memoir I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine is a splendidly convivial fireside draught... A sweet hymn to Bacchus..." - Steven Poole, The Guardian

From the Publisher