June 22, 2007 -- I’m in the middle of reading what I’m finding to be a superbly enjoyable book, The Joy of Drinking by Barbara Holland (Bloomsbury USA, 2007), which I shall review in detail at a later date, either here or in my blog at That's The Spirit! While finishing my day with a chapter enjoyed on my condo balcony (with a rather spectacular bottle of Bell’s Expedition Stout for company), however, I came across a passage that I knew immediately I had to share.

Regular World of Beer readers will know by now my views on age limits on drinking in general and the legal age of 21 in the United States in particular – namely that I find both to be inane and, in fact, ultimately encouraging of the very behavior they are designed to prevent. Barbara Holland shares this view, and on pages 36 and 37 expresses her disgust more succinctly and eloquently than have I or anyone else I have ever read.

She begins with a celebration of the tavern’s traditional role in student life:

"For as long as there have been universities, right up until yesterday, the tavern was the heart and soul of university life. Here the students gathered around the pitcher of beer to argue, debate, philosophize, forge lifelong bonds and sing rude traditional songs handed down through generations. When they looked back, the graduates considered that tavern, university, and friends were all one and the same."

True enough, and very much reflective of my own memories of university life. America, however, has now seen fit to intrude upon that ritual by imposing a law that prevents participation by at least half of the (now underage) university population. This leads Holland to the modern update of university life:

"Virtuous college students now retreat to their rooms and play computer games, while the unvirtuous bribe an older friend to buy them a bottle of vodka, which they glug down in the parking lot. Some die. Neither friendship nor philosophy is served."

There is more, of course, but you should read it all for yourself. Don’t wait for my full review; buy Holland’s book now.

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