Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7867 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Yorkshire Post, June 2003
...so much history and information... with such wit, entertaining personal insights and occasional laddish crudity.

Daily Express, 21 June 2003
"Packed with bar-room bet-winning facts and entertaining digressions... a book into which every pub-goer will want to dip."

Sunday Telegraph, June 2003
A clever bloke who understands his subject.

Customer Reviews

Something different
"Man Walks into a Pub" is a well researched piece of work from a guy who spent a fair number of years in the booze trade. I bought this book after it was featured in a copy of the Writers' Forum and the author seemed to be a genuine down-to-earth fellow; the kind of regular who you'd be likely to meet in a local bar.

It's packed full of anecdotes - for example, the average pint back in 1914 was 8% in strength (compared to 4-5% today).

This is the kind of book that your father would enjoy on his birthday, at Christmas or on Father's Day. It's a read for the man who probably has just about everything and you can't think of what to get him. It covers economic, social and business aspects of alcohol. Even politics is discussed - for example, the government's policy towards beer consumption during the two world wars.

Overall, an entertaining and informative read.

A book waiting to be written
It seems so obvious now that I have read this book but the author has pulled together a lot of threads that run through our drinking lives and woven them into a coherent narrative. What's the difference between an inn and a tavern? What happened to Hofmeister? Why do people drink out of the bottle? All the answers and many more crop up in this book.
For me the book comes alive in the second half when the narrative coincides with my personal drinking memories. He draws on his experience as an ad exec to describe trends in pub culture and drinking in terms of branding, image and so on, all of which is perfectly valid. This book review loses marks for the overuse of asterisks and for the awful cover ( not the author's fault I am sure)

satisfying with a good aftertaste
well researched little book about british beer habits and drinking establishments. some good odd little notes (like where the phrases 'barmy' and 'scot free' come from).
goes along historically, starting from prehistory. he makes some perceptive comments about CAMRA. not wriiten by a complete real ale fanatic, he rightly appreciates some lager beers are widely drunk because people like them. worth a read.