New from Liverpool University Press: The Hangover: A Literary and Cultural History by Jonathon Shears.About the book, from the publisher:
What is a hangover? How does it feel to suffer from one? What can hangovers tell us about the way attitudes to alcohol have developed over time? In the humanities, why have we neglected the subject of the hangover in our critical discussions of alcohol and intoxication?Jonathon Shears is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Keele University. He edited The Byron Journal from 2012 to 2019 and his book Byron's Temperament: Essays in Body and Mind won the Elma Dangerfield award in 2016. He is currently co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Lord Byron and working on projects related to alcohol and the emotions.
In the first comprehensive study of the hangover in literature and culture, Jonathon Shears sets out to answer each of these questions by exploring the representation of ''the morning after' in a wide variety of texts ranging from the Renaissance to the present day. The book looks at what examples of 'hangover literature' from writers such as Ben Jonson, Robert Burns, Charles Dickens, Kingsley Amis and A.L. Kennedy can add to our personal and cultural understanding of alcohol use. It demonstrates that, more than just a cluster of physical symptoms, the hangover is a complex interplay of sensations and emotions with a fascinating cultural history.
--Marshal Zeringue
