All you need is wine......

February 9, 2011

A (Wobbly) Day In The Life


A professional imbiber reveals all--be sure you actually want to read it.
book coverMany people consume alcohol, but very few do it professionally. Dan Dunn is one of those expert imbibers--and after reading his new book, Living Loaded, you probably won't want to follow his career path. You might not even uncork a wine bottle for a week.

Dunn embraces his job perhaps with too much enthusiasm. He's a liquor columnist for Playboy magazine, so expect several tales of sex, salvation and discovery of foolproof hangover cures. The author recounts five-day benders, successfully faking knowledge at a wine tasting and everything eye-popping and gut wrenching in between. In all, Living Loaded is an honest look at what it truly means to drink for a living--and it's as hilarious as it is frightening.

But the book's true strength comes in its recipes. Each chapter is preceded by a cocktail recipe crafted by a different top mixologist--and ostensibly created to be the appropriate drink to sip while reading the tales that follow. We admit it: Reading has never been this much fun.

To be clear, however, Living Loaded should not be approached as a self-help guide; it's more like a self-destruction guide. But the book is incredibly funny (where else will you find wine-and-porn pairings?), not to mention entertaining. The farther and harder Dunn falls, the more you laugh--and even learn a little about life and love...or, rather, what not to do in order to preserve both. Which probably starts with not reading Living Loaded at all. But then again, it'd be a shame to miss out on this many laughs.

You can buy Living Loaded here, but if you've read Living Loaded, tell us what you thought of the book here.