In what comedian John Robins dubs his ‘alcobiography’, he examines his life through the twelve drinks that have shaped him and his relationship with alcohol. Among them, there’s the first ‘stubby’ he tried as a scout, which sparked a romanticism for drinking; the Harley Davidson aftershave he drank at aged 14; the bottles of wine he drank alone as a student at Oxford University; and the rum that made life feel manageable in his 30s. Smaller reflective chapters such as ‘Algorithms and Alcohol’ and ‘My Arse and the Shadow Self’ are as rich in morbid honesty as they are in well-timed comedy. Robins skilfully speaks of the ‘time travel’ element to alcohol, the evil of industries which profit from addiction, and the little boy within him he wishes he could hold. A thought-provoking memoir about the wider meaning of alcohol in our lives and society. IM

Published by Penguin