Description

As heard on BBC Radio 4 and RTE Radio 1

A WATERSTONES BEST FOOD AND DRINK BOOK OF 2022

‘An easy read mixture of wit and wisdom … should be read by all who drink more than the limit’
Prof David Nutt, author of Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

The popular broadcaster and columnist sets out to discover the unsung pleasures of drinking in moderation.

The recommended alcohol limit is 14 units a week. Adrian Chiles used to put away almost 100. Ever since he was a teenager, drinking was his idea of a good time – and not just his, but seemingly the whole nation’s. Still, it wasn’t very good for him: the doctor made that clear. If you lined them up, Adrian must have knocked back three miles of drinks. How many of them had he genuinely wanted? A mile?

There’s an awful lot of advice out there on how to quit booze completely. If you just want to drink a bit less, the pickings are slim. Yet while the alcohol industry depends on a minority of problem drinkers, the majority really do enjoy in moderation. What’s their secret? Join the inimitable Chiles as he sets out around Britain and plumbs his only slightly fuzzy memories of a lifetime in pubs in a quest to find the good drinker within.

Publisher Review

Chiles's self-deprecation may be stage-managed, but the underlying modesty is real. Sitting alongside his propensity to admit his ignorance is an attractive willingness to listen to anyone, of any age or social station, who might tell him something meaningful ... This is why Adrian Chiles is beautiful * Gawker *