Magical Drinking

Seeing that this book came out six years ago, I'm probably not telling many of you something you don't already know, but: if you're like me, and you're just now hearing about The Magicians by Lev Grossman, it's time to sit down and start reading—especially if you like drinking. Without giving too much away (and doing too base of a summation), take Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and add swearing, sex, and lots of drinking. And when I say drinking, I don't mean beer and shots. I mean glasses of Lagavulin, Campari and sodas, Lillet cocktails, and dry rieslings from New York's Finger Lake region. Put all of those things together, set it in Brooklyn, Upstate, and Manhattan, and make magic a much more adult-oriented subject. That begins to describe what's going on here.

The Magicians is a brilliant summer read without all the imbibing, but the booze draws me in, of course. Lev Grossman obviously knows a bit more than the average author about strong drink. Now that I'm starting part two—The Magician King—I'm ready to pour myself a glass, turn on the A/C, and get back down to my magical business.

-David Driscoll