![]() ![]() Many of the most famous alcoholic writers were unfaithful spouses, neglectful parents and ended their days as suicides, in mental institutions, in poverty, bitterness, self-pity and despair. “It’s small wonder that almost all of the drunk writers achieved their best work young and, if they lived long enough, saw their work, as with Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Raymond Chandler, descend into weaker versions of former glories.” “It is obvious that the long-term effects of heavy and continuous drinking are physically and mentally deleterious and in some cases catastrophic,” he wrote. ![]() In his 2021 book “In Love With Hell: Drink in the Lives and Work of Eleven Writers,” British novelist and poet William Palmer puts it clearly. ![]() To revel in the romance of sodden genius while ignoring the consequences of chronic alcoholism - and its effects on writers who, without the drink, might have accomplished so much more - is at best naïve. A letter writer to the Star this week, offended at recent research warning of the health risks of alcohol, summoned the tired trope of linking alcohol and creative genius.Īfter listing 10 celebrated American authors who battled alcoholism, the writer said: “They all drank. ![]()
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