Hideous Absinthe: A History of the "Devil in a Bottle"

Mysteriously sophisticated, darkly alluring, almost Satanic: absinthe was the drink of choice of Baudelaire, Verlaine and Wilde. It inspired paintings by Degas and Manet, van Gogh and Picasso. It was blamed for conditions ranging from sterility to madness, to French defeats in World War I. The campaign against the "devil in a bottle" resulted in its ban throughout most of Europe. Its reputation for toxicity eventually extinguished the fin de siecle's infatuation with absinthe, but not before it had influenced many generations of artists on both sides of the channel. This text is a biography of "the green fairy"; from its place in the lives of writers and artists who were inspired - and ruined - by it, to its more recent rediscovery by Ernest Hemingway and today's would-be sophisticates.

Table of Contents:
Illustrations. Acknowledgements. Introduction: The Devil Made Liquid. 1 Bitter Beginnings; 2 The Green Hour and the New Art; 3 Absinthe for the People; 4 Poets Breaking the Rules; 5 Madmen of Art; 6 The Absinthe Binge; 7 English Decadence and French Morals; 8 Anglo-Saxon Attitudes; 9 Absinthe Paranoia; 10 Twilight of the Fee Verte; 11 Green in the USA; 12 Pop Goes the Fairy; Appendix: 'Lendemain'; Notes on the Text; Select Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Jad Adams is a television producer whose last book 'Madder Music, Stronger Wine: The Life of Ernest Dowson, Poet and Decadent' (I.B.Tauris), received resounding critical praise in Britain and the US. He has also written biographies of Tony Benn and of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Review :
"Adams offers rich historical context, cultural perspective, anecdotes and pointed observations" "This book is as titillating as it is sobering." - New York Times "Adams, who has previously written a terrific biography of the little known decadent poet Ernest Dowson, is clearly the man for the job. He has a real feel for the period and there is a wealth of detail and insight here... These days I satisfy my interest (in absinthe) by reading about it, and I'm therefore grateful for this essential contribution to the growing literature of the green fairy." -Tom Hodgkinson, The Guardian "In this entertaining history, Jad Adams traces the emerald drink's astonishing popularity in post-Bonaparte France... A diligent social historian, Adams has conducted much excellent research in Pontarlier." -Ian Thomson, The Observer "Jad Adams is himself an extraordinary polymath... His research has been omnivorous and meticulous... Jad Adams has assimilated all this material...historical, medical, social, cultural - and melded it into a most beguiling book... he is the master of a classically lucid style enlivened by dashes of the colloquial and by entertaining detail... he gives marvellously evocative thumbnail sketches... salted with funny anecdotes... a model of how to convey the exhilaration of an exciting subject without getting all melodramatic... In reading it I almost experienced the hallucinations..." -Bevis Hillier, The Spectator "...this is a well-researched, often poignant, and always fascinating biography of a subject whose history, rather like the liqueur itself when added to seven parts water, has often been clouded and opaque." -Stephen Wood, The Lancet "Jad Adams has written a fascinating tale... the green devil, or fairy, has not lost its steely grip." -Illtyd Harrington, Camden Journal 'A splendidly detailed exploration of the subject' Ben Macintyre, The Times A Potpourri of Herb Books, November 1 2004. 'Beautifully illustrated with posters and paintings, this engrossing book is herbal history at its best.' -Connie Krochmal.