Intoxicated
I'm Kim Alexander and this is a Fiction Nation minute. The book is Intoxicated by John Barlow.
I picked this book up because the author was compared to Roald Dahl of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I thought, if it's even close, it'll be worth it. And Barlow does have his characters veering between loveable and slightly dangerous, or even unpleasant, so I'm okay with that comparision. The book is set in Victorian England, where Industrialism has made millionaires, built cities, and opened the world for fortune seekers. Intoxicated is the story of one rural family and their adventures with a mysterious hunchback dwarf who favors bright green suits, and how they invent the world's first soda and change the way we drink. The characters are broadly drawn, and everything is charged with the newness of a changing world back when change was exciting, not frightening. Intoxiated, by John Barlow. I'm Kim Alexander and this is Fiction Nation on Take Five, XM 155.
I'm Kim Alexander and this is a Fiction Nation minute. The book is Intoxicated by John Barlow.
This novel, set in Victorian England, and follows the adventures of one unusual family and their combination Mary Poppins/Jiminy Cricket, a hunchbacked dwarf named Rodrigo Vermilion. The last dwarf we met was a sort of sad sack everyman just trying to make his way in the world. Not so Vermilion, who lies, swindles and charms his way to a fortune, wearing an emerald green suit and inventing the world's first soft drink — it's made from rhubarb — to save the poor from the evils of alcohol. Intoxicated is an old fashioned feeling story, with good-hearted maids and drunken sons, and I learned all about how to make soda in my basement. The not so hidden message is that with the right advertising, you can sell anything to anyone, whether they need it or even know what it is. I'd probably buy a bottle of Rhubarbilla myself! Intoxicated by John Barlow. I'm Kim Alexander on Fiction Nation on Take Five, XM 155.
I'm Kim Alexander and this is a Fiction Nation minute. The book is Intoxicated by John Barlow.
It's not often that I am grateful for the Food and Drug Administration, but after reading about the invention of the world's first soda — invented in an English kitchen and including some pretty dubious ingredients, I felt kind of glad there is someone to say, you really need to at least wash your hands. Intoxicated is set in the Victorian Era, and life was changing fast from ruralism to industrialism. The crowded cities were full of poor people who got drunk on every occasion, so the Brookes family, with some help from the mysterious dwarf Vermilion, sets out to invent a non-alcoholic alternative. Not out of the goodness of their hearts, although some of them were good hearted, but to make their fortune. The characters are all very grand and happily, not in the least bit realistic. Set only a hundred and fifty years ago, it seems to take place in another, more boisterous and fearless world. Intoxicated by John Barlowe. I'm Kim Alexander on Fiction Nation, on Take Five, XM 155.
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