Books? Pretty great, I think. Reading them, referencing them, arranging them by color on a shelf behind you so when you get on a Zoom call you seem chic and put-together? Good shit all around. As longtime readers may recall, my reading list doubles as a shoppable page on Bookshop.org, The Fingers Reading Room. If you’ve browsed it lately, you’d see that I’ve recently read the following titles:
Actually that last one isn’t on Bookshop so you technically wouldn’t see it for sale in the Fingers Reading Room. But that’s not the point. The point is, all these books address, with varying degrees of directness, how Big Tobacco firms conspired to obfuscate science, stiff-arm regulators, and stonewall plaintiffs over the course of decades—and what eventually brought them to the bargaining table with their many foes.
As I wrote a few weeks back, while today’s booze business isn’t a 1:1 match with the cigarette industry of the ‘90s, there are plenty of parallels. They’ll only become more relevant as domestic and international public-health scrutiny about alcohol’s various physiological and social downsides ramps up. Despite my professional angle on all this, I also read for fun. I bet you do, too. What books have you read lately, and why should somebody else check them out?
Don’t feel restricted to be booze- or tobacco-related tomes! If there’s a book that grabbed you, or helped you wrap your head around some esoteric shit, or brought some disturbing revelation about the world crashing down upon thy brow, this is your chance to tell the Fingers Fam about it. Nonfiction, fiction, you name it.
What’s that? You don’t read books because now ChatGPT can just summarize them for you to #optimize your #productivity? Wow, we have a very different relationship to books! And I hate yours! Anyway, here are some other items that might get your commenting juices flowing:
Right-wing charlatans appear to have bullied the Brown-Forman Corporation into killing off its diversity initiative, is this how irony works?
Napa Green certifies wineries based on environmental and social sustainability metrics, even if they still use Roundup, is this how greenwashing works?
CNBC and other business outlets mindlessly echo Kroger’s promise to do a billion-dollars’ worth of price cuts if its troubled Albertsons merger closes, is this how journalism works?
Something else on your mind? Whether you’re a free or paid subscriber, you can and should let ‘er rip in the comments.
Oh also, if you are still reading for free, please upgrade paid, every subscription helps. Cool? Cool! If Big Tobacco’s cigarettes don’t give you cancer, Big Ag’s pesticides might. But I have something that won’t. It’s your Fingers Friday Thread!
P.S.—Don’t forget to grab your limited-edition “United States of Boilermakers” from Fingers x Pints and Panels! It’s original art from two independent drinks-media cReAtOrS (me and the extremely talented Em Sauter) that will look terrific hanging over your barcart. Or wherever, really. Get yours now!
"One Nation Under God" by historian Kevin Kruse about how capitalists used Christianity to spread pro-capitalist propaganda in the early 20th century and then the religion got co-opted by conservatives in America. If you want a glimpse into why America in 2024 is the way it is, that's a good book.
"A Libertarian Walks into a Bear" by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. It's about a town that elected libertarians to run the town government and everything fell apart. It's a good study into the ideas of libertarianism, especially to someone (me) who was a libertarian when I was a dumb 20 year old. I'm still dumb, but not that dumb.
You're not going to believe this but I have actually read both these books! And you're right to recommend them, because they are bangers. 'Libertarian' was laugh-out-loud funny to me at various points, which is rare for that sort of reported nonfiction.
Oh these sound GREAT. I was raised evangelical with these sorts of people and I dated a libertarian for a while (cringe). Going to see if my library has these!
My library has them so they're now all on hold! Hoping they don't all come in at the same time so I have time to really read and learn, but if they do, maybe I'll take a PTO from work and do a reading/yoga/drinking vacay
After Heineken announced that they were closing Lagunitas Chicago I ordered Tony Magee's "So You Want to Start a Brewery" book. It was a fun read - Tony is most certainly a great teller of tales - but honestly there wasn't much in there that seemed to be very relevant to craft in 2024 (it came out ten years ago, which might as well be a century).
The most interesting parts to me were the interstitial "how I met Tony" stories from a variety of colleagues and compatriots along the way, which make him out to be equal parts beer poet, leader wildman and savant ... kinda wild knowing that he's essentially a ghost today.
That's interesting. I have not heard great things about Magee, though I've never met him in person so I can't really say. Regardless, he really is a ghost in the industry now, huh? I can't think of the last time I even saw someone get a quote from him. Took that sweet sweet Heineken money and ran, I guess. Ain't no shame in that game.
1) Allan Brandt’s “The Cigarette Century”. It integrates the histories of mass marketing, health policy, corporate decision making, and more using the humble smoke as its central subject.
2) Bryan Burrough and John Helyar’s “Barbarians at the Gate” about the RJRNabisco leveraged buyout. The Premier (smokeless cigarette) section alone justifies a read. Regularly rewatch this snippet from the film. James Garner cracks me up here: https://youtu.be/C4EGXSuFuIw?feature=shared
Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right” by David Austin Walsh. Examines the “far right” relationship with movement conservatism from the 1930s to the present.
“The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order” by Gary Gerstle. I don’t agree with everything in it, but it is a solid history of the…uh…rise and fall of the neoliberal order.
In the fiction world, I’d recommend the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. I just finished the sixth book in it. Think Game of Thrones, but dystopian Mars far in the future with class warfare.
I wouldn’t say it’s depressing. I would argue that it gives more credence to the idea of hat while the far right has accelerated in some sense recently, a lot of these ideas have been there for a long time (read Birchers by Matthew Dallek, too). Not sure if you listen to the “Know Your Enemy” podcast but it his book also dispels the myth of William F. Buckley Jr as someone opposed to bringing the far right into the tent of “respectable conservatism.”
I'm about halfway through The Surgeon's Mate, Book 7 in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin (Master and Commander) books. I saw the movie years ago, but started on the books last yearbafter having heard many people recommend them, and I also can't recommend the series enough.
I also reread Jeff VanderMeer's Area X trilogy recently since a fourth book, Absolution is coming out this fall and I'm pretty excited for it. The first book in the series, Annihilation, was adapted into a movie starring Natalie Portman a few years ago. I prefer the book, which is a real page-turner, but the movie is also solid.
Oh damn, I didn't even know Master and Commander was based on a book. Or books, it sounds like. Is it... fiction? I kinda forget how the movie goes, I watched it a long time ago.
I think you'd call it historical fiction. The characters aren't based on real people, but the broader world events and battles are based on actual events. I usually need to have my phone handy for research when I read. There's a LOT of nautical terms and descriptions of how you sail a British naval vessel.
"The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind" - about the differences between people making decisions and organizations made of people making, somehow, different decisions.
Two books I like suggesting are:
"One Nation Under God" by historian Kevin Kruse about how capitalists used Christianity to spread pro-capitalist propaganda in the early 20th century and then the religion got co-opted by conservatives in America. If you want a glimpse into why America in 2024 is the way it is, that's a good book.
"A Libertarian Walks into a Bear" by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. It's about a town that elected libertarians to run the town government and everything fell apart. It's a good study into the ideas of libertarianism, especially to someone (me) who was a libertarian when I was a dumb 20 year old. I'm still dumb, but not that dumb.
You're not going to believe this but I have actually read both these books! And you're right to recommend them, because they are bangers. 'Libertarian' was laugh-out-loud funny to me at various points, which is rare for that sort of reported nonfiction.
You have excellent taste, sir!
Oh these sound GREAT. I was raised evangelical with these sorts of people and I dated a libertarian for a while (cringe). Going to see if my library has these!
Oh dude, buckle the fuck up, you're in for a ride. 'Libertarian' is way, way funnier, for reasons discussed above. But both books are terrific.
My library has them so they're now all on hold! Hoping they don't all come in at the same time so I have time to really read and learn, but if they do, maybe I'll take a PTO from work and do a reading/yoga/drinking vacay
After Heineken announced that they were closing Lagunitas Chicago I ordered Tony Magee's "So You Want to Start a Brewery" book. It was a fun read - Tony is most certainly a great teller of tales - but honestly there wasn't much in there that seemed to be very relevant to craft in 2024 (it came out ten years ago, which might as well be a century).
The most interesting parts to me were the interstitial "how I met Tony" stories from a variety of colleagues and compatriots along the way, which make him out to be equal parts beer poet, leader wildman and savant ... kinda wild knowing that he's essentially a ghost today.
That's interesting. I have not heard great things about Magee, though I've never met him in person so I can't really say. Regardless, he really is a ghost in the industry now, huh? I can't think of the last time I even saw someone get a quote from him. Took that sweet sweet Heineken money and ran, I guess. Ain't no shame in that game.
Block Club spoke with him after the Chicago plant closed and almost nobody noticed ... except us :)
https://karlgdb.substack.com/p/block-club-found-tony-magee-and-this
Two of my favs:
1) Allan Brandt’s “The Cigarette Century”. It integrates the histories of mass marketing, health policy, corporate decision making, and more using the humble smoke as its central subject.
2) Bryan Burrough and John Helyar’s “Barbarians at the Gate” about the RJRNabisco leveraged buyout. The Premier (smokeless cigarette) section alone justifies a read. Regularly rewatch this snippet from the film. James Garner cracks me up here: https://youtu.be/C4EGXSuFuIw?feature=shared
"Tastes like shit and smells like a fart!" is an all-time line.
Great recommendations, thanks so much, gonna try to pick up both of these ASAP.
Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right” by David Austin Walsh. Examines the “far right” relationship with movement conservatism from the 1930s to the present.
“The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order” by Gary Gerstle. I don’t agree with everything in it, but it is a solid history of the…uh…rise and fall of the neoliberal order.
In the fiction world, I’d recommend the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. I just finished the sixth book in it. Think Game of Thrones, but dystopian Mars far in the future with class warfare.
Hell yeah, I have 'Taking America Back' on my list, glad you'd recommend it. How uh... how depressing is it?
Never heard of the others, gonna check 'em out!
I wouldn’t say it’s depressing. I would argue that it gives more credence to the idea of hat while the far right has accelerated in some sense recently, a lot of these ideas have been there for a long time (read Birchers by Matthew Dallek, too). Not sure if you listen to the “Know Your Enemy” podcast but it his book also dispels the myth of William F. Buckley Jr as someone opposed to bringing the far right into the tent of “respectable conservatism.”
I'm about halfway through The Surgeon's Mate, Book 7 in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin (Master and Commander) books. I saw the movie years ago, but started on the books last yearbafter having heard many people recommend them, and I also can't recommend the series enough.
I also reread Jeff VanderMeer's Area X trilogy recently since a fourth book, Absolution is coming out this fall and I'm pretty excited for it. The first book in the series, Annihilation, was adapted into a movie starring Natalie Portman a few years ago. I prefer the book, which is a real page-turner, but the movie is also solid.
Oh damn, I didn't even know Master and Commander was based on a book. Or books, it sounds like. Is it... fiction? I kinda forget how the movie goes, I watched it a long time ago.
I think you'd call it historical fiction. The characters aren't based on real people, but the broader world events and battles are based on actual events. I usually need to have my phone handy for research when I read. There's a LOT of nautical terms and descriptions of how you sail a British naval vessel.
I had Assuming the Risk on hold at the library and it expired yesterday because I forgot to pick it up, drat. Put it back on hold!
Oh yeah, definitely pick it up. I learned a ton. Little dry here and there, but I recommend it nonetheless.
https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/
"The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind" - about the differences between people making decisions and organizations made of people making, somehow, different decisions.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674971141
"The Ordinal Society" - how Big Data rules everything around us, more or less. Somewhat technical sociology verbiage, kind of scary.