1930 The Art of Drinking What and How by Dexter Mason

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THE ART OF DRINKING

THE ART OF DRINKING

You may think it odd that I should preface this collection of recipes with a foreword on the art of drinking. On the surface it may appear like a strident phrase in an otherwse con fuoco baccha– nalian symphony, but in reality the true motive is atavistic; a recurrence in me of certain characteris– tics of my remote ancestors; a recurrence of more primitive and robust types. I have suddenly dis– covered that drink is good. I have discovered also that my discovery is nothing unusual; that the revelation which so suddenly astonished me is in reality no revelation at all, but rather something that I had failed to appreciate . until recently. A short time ago a relative of mine-one of my robust ancestors-willed me his c e 11 a r. Hitherto I had always been somewhat of a recluse; shunned by the drinking set as it were. Since com– ing into this bacbuc fortune, my popularity has burst all bounds. My house has become the centrifugal from which shoals of animated companions stagger away in all directions. Where heretofore the intru– sion of some neighbor bent on the promotion of xvii