Books by Wayne Curtis

Now revised, updated, and with new recipes, And a Bottle of Rum tells the raucously entertaining story of this most American of liquorsFrom the grog sailors drank on the high seas in the 1700s to the mojitos of Havana bar hoppers, spirits and cocktail columnist Wayne Curtis offers a history of rum and the Americas alike, revealing that the homely spirit once distilled from the industrial waste of the booming sugar trade has managed to infiltrate every stratum of New World society. Curtis takes us from the taverns of the American colonies, where rum delivered both a cheap wallop and cash for the Revolution; to the plundering pirate ships off the coast of Central America; to the watering holes of pre-Castro Cuba; and to the kitsch-laden tiki bars of 1950s America. Here are sugar barons and their armies conquering the Caribbean, Paul Revere stopping for a nip during his famous ride, Prohibitionists marching against "demon rum," Hemingway fattening his liver with Havana daiquiris, and today''s bartenders reviving old favorites like Planter''s Punch. In an age of microbrewed beer and single-malt whiskeys, rum--once the swill of the common man--has found its way into the tasting rooms of the most discriminating drinkers. Complete with cocktail recipes for would-be epicurean time-travelers, this is history at its most intoxicating.

"One could do worse than to grow up on a river." In this bountiful book of essays, Wayne Curtis voyages down the tributaries of his past, casting a net to ensnare moments of love, loss, and life on the waterways of New Brunswick. Curtis writes of the simple pleasure of fishing with friends, of his first unforgettable kiss, and of a grandfather who teased that "all dreams that were told before breakfast had a better chance of becoming real." A wistful trek through personal history, Of Earthly and River Things is an elegant requiem for a vanishing culture, a world where people were grateful to the river for its bounty.

Wild Apples: Field Notes from a River Farm marks Wayne Curtis's return to the embrace of home and the colourful lives of the people who inspire him. Simple pleasures like fishing on the Miramichi River and chores like cutting wood, planting beans, and picking crabapples take on new depths of meaning in the telling. The birth of his sister at Christmastime, the story of his mother in her own words, and a memorable trip to the circus recall unexpected moments of family love. These personal essays are a poetic blend of fiction and biography, rich in imagery and uncompromising in their emotional honesty. Taken together, they reveal the bittersweet story of a childhood both blessed and burdened with family tradition and obligations, of dizzying love and loss, and of a young man's struggle to change the patterns of the past.

One Indian Summer is a powerful and eloquent novel about a boy whose coming-of-age on the Miramichi River coincides with the death of his father and the end of the family farm.

The lyrical memoir of an ever-moving river and those who answer its call.