Tobacco and Alcohol Go Together

Name: Tobacco and Alcohol Go Together
ISBN: 9787100214551

Yu BinThe Commercial Press · ChinaFeb 2024

3.5

Word count: 86K words
Chapters: 41
ISBN: 9787100214551

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Summary

This is a collection of reminiscence essays; its material and style recall the prose of Zhou Zuoren, Lin Yutang, and Wang Zengqi. The author enjoys drink and also smokes, having immersed himself in both for decades and lived with tobacco and alcohol for much of his life; the experiences he has personally had and the drinkers' affairs and smokers' anecdotes he has seen and heard are therefore not only rich but also told in a lively, engaging style. The pieces collected here were originally column articles, divided into four sections, ranging from dishes to accompany drink to red, yellow, and white beers, and on to "the thing that is tobacco"—altogether amusing and entertaining to read.

Editor's review

Tobacco and Alcohol Are Inseparable is a collection of cultural essays by scholar Yu Bin, published by the Commercial Press. The book does not discuss tobacco and alcohol themselves but uses "tobacco" and "alcohol" as two deft cultural entry points to probe the social history, literati tastes, and aesthetics of daily life they carry. Yu Bin's writing combines scholarly rigor with a man of letters' ease; he moves among Chinese and foreign literature, historical anecdotes, and personal memory, drawing freely on everything from Lu Xun's cigarettes and Gu Long's wine to the cigarette philosophy of European cafés and the drinking lives of Japanese writers, weaving vivid humanistic tableaux. Reading the book is like following a learned and well-traveled guide on an intellectual stroll through desire, sociability, creation, and contemplation. It goes beyond a discussion of material indulgences and touches on deeper questions: how habits shape culture, and how private pleasures connect with public space. For contemporary readers, in an age when health consciousness is increasingly mainstream, the book offers a rare historical perspective and humanistic tolerance, allowing us to understand the complexity and beauty of those "things" and "feelings" once deeply embedded in everyday life.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern cultural history and the history of social life
Literature lovers who appreciate polished, allusive cultural essays
Thinkers hoping to discern humanistic depth in ordinary things
Knowledge-seekers who enjoy encountering rich anecdotes and little-known facts in their reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a tasting guide to tobacco and alcohol or popular health information
Readers seeking strongly narrative or fictional content

Reading tips

Slow down while reading and savor the learning and insight embedded in the author's casual talk.
Extend your reading with the literary works or historical figures mentioned in the book for the pleasure of intertextual discovery.
The book suits reading in fragments: each essay stands alone, yet together they build the theme.

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

版权信息
题记
何物下酒
花生米
豆
蜂蛹
鸭四件
海蜇
凤尾鱼
烧鸡
奶酪
且来把盏
烈酒
红酒的身价
韩酒三型
“烧麦炸弹”
喝啤酒，到比利时
啤酒下饺子
温酒
打酒
“吃”酒
酒瓶
分酒器的来历
世界杯·啤酒·方便面
“生命之水”囤货记
一醉方休
我把我灌醉
醉卧地板君莫笑
酒气
酒病
微醺
酒名
醉，还是没醉？这是一个问题
烟之为物
疑似抽烟
烟技
“断顿”的时候
病中戒烟记
香烟种种
怎得从容害自己
细烟

FAQ

Is this book mainly about the harms or benefits of smoking and drinking?

Not at all. Its core is a cultural-historical and humanistic exploration of the roles and meanings tobacco and alcohol play, as social habits and cultural symbols, in history, literature, and daily life—going beyond simple judgments of pros and cons.

What is the author Yu Bin's background?

Yu Bin is a professor in the School of Literature at Nanjing University, long engaged in modern and contemporary literary research and essay writing. His work is known for broad learning, an understated style, and a distinctive perspective, and he excels at approaching grand cultural themes from small details.

Is the book difficult to read?

Moderately accessible. The author writes fluently and conversationally; unfamiliarity with some literary and historical allusions does not hinder overall reading. The rich citations are more likely to spark curiosity, making the book suitable for general readers interested in literature and history.

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About the author

Yu Bin Author · Chinese · 1960

Yu Bin, born in 1960 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Humanities of Nanjing University and heads the program in comparative literature and world literature. His writing spans foreign literature, biography, documentary prose, and essays. His works include biographies such as Zhang Ailing: A Biography and Zhou Zuoren, which probe the lives and inner worlds of modern Chinese writers, as well as Shiji yu Xinji, Tiqian Huaijiu, and Yilin World Classics Lectures, which combine scholarship with accessible prose. He also compiled A Hundred Years, Many People, Many Things from the oral recollections of Yang Yi, preserving personal memory and the texture of an era through interviews. His writing is grounded in solid research and a plain, readable style, balancing academic rigor with general appeal. Ten of his works are held in this collection, covering foreign literature, biography, documentary writing, essays, and law; among them are translations and commentaries related to the works of Alain de Botton.