Rainy Day Reading

I am not much of a history buff because history tends to be so repetitive and depressing (what year did one nation kill every one in the neighboring country again?) so I had expected to slog through Wine & War, by Don and Petie Kladstrup. But I found myself with my stockinged feet up on the sofa turning page after page, laughing out loud in places, and rooting for the French vignerons as they stubbornly attempt to thwart the Nazis in even the most impossible circumstances. I particularly enjoyed the true story of the unarmed supply convoy trapped on the beach at Normandy with 20 cases of Sancerre. They decided to hunker in a bunker and drink all the wine so as not to let it fall into the hands of the Nazis. They confessed later they were pretty easy to capture, greeting the German soldiers with cheerful hiccups.

God Is My Broker : A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth is a rollicking satire by Christopher Buckley, creator of Little Green Men. In his usual hilarious, no holds barred style, Buckley relates the tale of a down and out, and really drunk, investment broker who joins a monastic brotherhood to dry out. The monastery produces some pretty god-awful wine from their own vineyard, in old cement tanks with rotten and rusting plumbing. Each year the monks send a case of wine to the Pope, but the current orange-flecked vintage makes the Pope dangerously ill and consequently the Vatican cuts off the monastery’s funding, resulting in a series of investments and adventures from which we are encouraged to learn lessons about life, love, and the price of success. According to Amazon.com, the book has been optioned by New Line Pictures.

And for a combination of Romancing-the-Stone adventure and a quest for great wines, John and Erica Platter take us through Africa Uncorked: Travels in Extreme Wine Territory. From armed Muslim guards to vineyards that fall off cliffs into active volcanoes, the Platters search the continent (or at least part of it) for the greatest wines and winemakers in Africa. A combination of travelogue, wine critique, and humor, the Platters write with suspense and wit about the unusual challenges that face African winemakers, vineyardists, and drinkers.