William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
A hoity-toity bakery in an elegant Manhattan neighborhood is celebrating "hot chocolate" this month. And there's nothing wrong with that. But, as part of that celebration, it created a speciality hot chocolate drink in honor of the great American author, William Faulkner. The libation is called "What Would Faulkner Drink?" and it consists of hot chocolate, honey, lemon, and moonshine:
Except for the moonshine part--which is a hat tip, I suppose, to the author's alcoholism--I can sooner imagine Faulkner eating a quinoa salad than sipping on a honey-lemon hot chocolate. It just seems so out of character for the man who once said, "There is no such thing as bad whiskey. Some whiskeys just happen to be better than others."
But maybe this explains the incongruity: via the New Yorker, we learn that the bakery owner is not as tuned in to the life and times--and literature--of Faulkner as you would hope and even expect:
Faulkner is the first author—in fact, the first human—to be saluted with a flavor here. (Animals have had the honor; last Tuesday was Ode to the Polar Bear.) “It’s not out of a particular love for Faulkner,” said Rubin [CEO of the bakery], who admitted that he does not have a favorite Faulkner book because he has never finished one. “My brother was reading Faulkner at an early age, but other than that I don’t think a single reference to Faulkner has ever been made in my family.”
So what would Faulkner drink? If Rubin had done his research, he'd know the answer to that.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Assuming this guy knows as much about polar bears as he knows about Faulkner, I'd guess that an "Ode to the Polar Bear" is some sort of Bloody Mary.
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
And it's free if you can recite the 1,287 word sentence from Absolam, Absolam! without making a mistake.
The drink is probably slightly less over rated than Faulkner himself.
Oct '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
There is so much wrong with this story.
I can't wait until they honor Vonnegut with his own cranberry, watercress & Pall Mall muffin. Because I can just see him sitting by a window, writing...
I just don't get these people.
Jun '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
As with whiskey so with women: There are no ugly women, some are just prettier than others.
Dec '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Define moonshine please.
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Only if you consume enough of the former can you make a case for the latter. The difference between ugliness and drunkenness is that the drunk can sober up.
Jun '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
EJHill
Only if you consume enough of the former can you make a case for the latter. The difference between ugliness and drunkenness is that the drunk can sober up. · Feb 23 at 11:37am
EJ, my problem is that I genuinely like women. This is true despite past events. There is also a huge difference between attraction and liking. Most men never look past "attraction", which means they miss way more than they think they see. One of the greatest mysteries of life is attraction. Why, for example, are you attracted to one woman and not another, despite the fact that objectively one is as beautiful as the other? If you can riddle me that, EJ, you are way smarter than I'll ever be. Mind you, you may already be way smarter than I'll every be, but you get my meaning, I'm sure.
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Cas, in the ways of women, no man is smarter than another. They, and our affairs with them, are questions surrounded by mystery and wrapped in an enigma. God help us all.
Jun '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
EJ, if you expand my avatar, you will see that I agree with you wholeheartedly.
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Where I come from, moonshine is illicitly-distilled corn whiskey, which tastes much like ethanol. I mean, it's really, really awful. I'd stick with Valu-Rite vodka as more cost-effective and less disgusting. Not the strength or rot-guttedness of it, just the corn aftertaste. Can't even mix it away.
So did Faulkner hold out his pinky while sampling this delightful concoction?
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
I'd like to see an offering of beer milkshake in honor of John Steinbeck. The could call it "The Doc Shake."
Dec '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
Kennedy Smith
Where I come from, moonshine is illicitly-distilled corn whiskey, which tastes much like ethanol.· Feb 23 at 3:07pm
Such is the definition I know, but I don't think that's what the recipe is talking about.
May '10
Re: William Faulkner is Rolling Over in his Grave
You're quite correct. There is commercially available boutique artisanal sustainable moonshine, which I've never felt the compulsion to sample.
It is insulting to southerners everywhere, however, that they say "oh, I've never read Faulkner, but he's from the south, so he must like moonshine". Um, no, you provincial Manhattanite. Just, just, no.