Heath, Dwight B. Drinking Occasions: Comparative Perspectives on Alcohol and Culture (Series on Alcohol in Society). Brunner/Mazel. March 2000, 208 pages.
 A look at the Dedication (to"ETOH, alias Ethanol, Alcohol, C2H50H...") and one knows an intriguing and unique read is ahead. This latest addition to the International Center for Alcohol Policies Series on Alcohol in Society takes the series to new heights. This book deals directly with the challenge of defining responsibility in the face of the world's many different drinking styles, traditions, patterns, and laws. As such, Drinking Occasions establishes itself as a unique perspective on the very culture of alcohol and of drinking.
This book approaches the subject of drinking with a predominantly descriptive orientation, focusing on what people do and what they say. By way of illustrative case studies, captivating images, and an authoritative yet conversational writing style, it delivers a full perspective about the range of variation we find when we look at drinking as a peculiarly human phenomenon.
With respect to people's thinking, talking, and acting about drink, each chapter answers one of the universal questions of Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why? This innovative style offers an understanding and an interesting perspective on the place of beverage alcohol in the world. The reader is treated to such insights as: a case study on Spanish Drinking Around the Clock to show when people may drink; gender and age differences in drinking to illustrate who drinks and who does not; the various activities and settings linked to drinking and the changing attitudes and styles of drinking to offer perspective on how people drink; the vast range of types of drinks to give an idea of what people drink; and a case study on the Changing Camba Drinking Patterns to illustrate why people drink.
Together these chapters fill a gap in the literature on drinking patterns. They do so in an accessible and informative style that a truly unlimited worldwide audience as well as social scientists, social psychologists, anthropologists, and public health professionals will appreciate.
About the Author:
Dwight B. Heath, Ph.D., is a Professor of Anthropology (Research) at Brown university in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. After completing his A.B. at Harvard university and serving in the U.S. Army, he earned his Ph.D. (in anthropology) at Yale University. On the basis of ethnographic, historical, and other cross-cultural research, Dr. Heath has written several books and over 300 chapters and articles on topics as varied as pilgrims at Plymouth, land reform and social revolution, Bolivian social history, cultural properties, Latin America, cultural aspects of alcohol, and drug policy, among others. His most recent volume is International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture (Greenwood, Westport, MA, 1995).
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