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More Literary Drinkers : ISBN 978-0-9552251-3-0
by Pete Bunten with graphics and design by Roger Buck.
Published 2007 - 52 pages, illustrated.
A5 - Softback (perfect bound) : £3.95 (+ P&P)

Regular readers will be pleased to know that a follow-up compilation of these absorbing studies – featuring illustrations by Roger Buck and photographs of Townes Brewery supremo, Alan Wood – has been produced and is now on sale.

Whereas the first book was a retrospective collection of Pete's articles, More Literary Drinkers will be the source of future such InnSpire articles for many years to come!

The sketches follow the same pattern as the first successful series: a mixture of biography and critical comment, but all exploring the debt that literature owes to drink and drinking.

Here you will find a new perspective on Emily and Charlotte Brontë, on D H Lawrence and Dorothy Parker, on James Bond and on Tolkien’s hobbits. Many authors you will know; some may be new to you; all have their story to tell.

‘Poems written by water-drinkers will never last nor give pleasure,’ claimed the Roman poet Horace. Ernest Hemingway was of the opinion that good writers were drinking writers. Take a deep draught of the literary drinkers within and decide for yourselves.

With extended pages, more illustrations and now perfect bound, the new volume is exellent value!

The 52-page book features the lives of 22 famous writers from the Brontë Sisters to Evelyn Waugh and is excellent value at just £3.95 from book stores or £4.50 (incl. p&p).

More Literary Drinkers features: The Brontës, Roy Campbell, J. P. Donleavy, Ian Fleming, John Fothergill, Oliver Goldsmith, W. W. Jacobs, Jerome K. Jerome, D. H. Lawrence, Lewis and Tolkien, Norman MacCaig, Julian Maclaren-Ross, Thomas Nashe, Eugene O’Neill, Dorothy Parker, Joseph Roth, Shakespeare, R. S. Surtees, Graham Swift, Evelyn Waugh.

Author, Pete Bunten has studied, taught and written in Derbyshire, Liverpool, Newcastle, Kent and Cambridge. When the inevitable invitation to appear on ‘Desert Island Discs’ arrives, his chosen luxury will be the bar of a traditional British pub.

Graphic Artist, Roger Buck: Reasons to be cheerful: "Draught English Pale Ale, Belgian Wheat Beer, Beaujolais, Raki, Cuban Rum, Bombay Gin, Beer Chang, Mekong Whisky. Drink local".

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Literary Drinkers : ISBN 0-9552251-0-8
by Pete Bunten with graphics and design by Roger Buck.
Published 2006 - 44 pages, illustrated.
A5 - Softback : £2.95

"'The Muses", said Horace, "have usually smelt of drink first thing in the morning". And with that inspiriting thought in mind, let us go in search of the literary drinkers."

So began the first of Pete Bunten's 'Literary Drinkers' articles, written for InnSpire, the Chesterfield and District CAMRA magazine. Since the first article, in May 1996, the series has grown to explore the bibulous lives and works of literary giants from Chaucer to Robbie Burns, from Shakespeare to Dylan Thomas.

The articles chronicle some well-known literary facts as well as, perhaps, less-known details about drink, drinking habits, drinking circles and drinking establishments. From a writer with an obvious sympathy for his subject matter, they offer a wry, dry and entertaining take on the conventional literary biography.

'Writers are drawn to public houses, it seems, ... simply to find someone tolerant or drunk enough to listen to their bursts of prejudice or egomania. Most writers are, it goes without saying, egomaniacs.'

Regular readers will be delighted to know that a compilation of these absorbing studies – featuring illustrations by Roger Buck – has been produced and is now offered for general sale.

The 44-page book features the lives of 25 famous writers from Dylan Thomas to Thomas Hardy plus additional articles and is excellent value at just £2.95.

Here is what the critics said about ‘Literary Drinkers’:

‘Bunten is such an elegant and unforced handler of language that the book is a pure delight'. - Ted Bruning, ‘What’s Brewing: Newspaper of the Campaign for Real Ale'.

‘Witty and erudite'. - Adrian Beard, ‘A’ Level Chief Examiner and University lecturer.

‘A wry, dry and entertaining take on the conventional biography'

Literary Drinkers features: Flann O’Brien, Dylan Thomas, George Orwell, Robbie Burns, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Brendan Behan, Laurie Lee, Charles Dickens, Kingsley Amis, Jeffrey Bernard, Patrick Hamilton, Chesterton and Belloc, James Joyce, Malcolm Lowry, Samuel Beckett, Dr. Johnson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Grahame, P G Wodehouse, John Clare, Charles Bukowski, Pivo, Jack London, Thomas Hardy.

Author, Pete Bunten, has written a novel, a range of magazine articles and some award-winning plays. He arrived by accident in Chesterfield and has yet to find a reason to leave.

Roger Buck is a graphic artist. He lives in Chesterfield, conveniently close to several excellent public houses, but prefers bars where, as Tom Waits says ....”no one speaks English and everything’s broken”.

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