Kindred spirits

The book offers an invaluable introduction to the topic of the representation of alcohol in literature and film from antiquity to the present. The first part deals with literature and includes a genealogy of the relationship between alcohol and fiction. The authors set two Victorian ghost stories and a Nigerian phantasmagorical fable as examples of how alcohol dilutes the boundaries between the living and the dead. The part devoted to film approaches the matter of alcohol both as a personal vice and a vehicle of social interaction. The authors explore American, Irish, and Polish films, paying particular attention to the masculinities they portray. The whole volume can serve as a textbook on these issues. The books and films analyzed will constitute an ample reading and viewing list for a university course.