Very fun read, full of things I will never try but like thinking about. Robert Evans (of the podcast Behind the Bastards, among others) has a great, casual, sarcastic but honest voice. ( )

Good, well-researched book about how a variety of vices (drugs, sex, parties, etc.) were instrumental to the creation of civilization -- e.g, people settled down from hunter-gatherers to agriculture so they could reliably grow grain for brewing beer (it wasn't otherwise superior to the foods available), and to have lavish feasts as a form of payment pre-economy. Well presented and engaging. ( )

Funny and interesting ( )

Never did I suspect when I picked up this book that it would have instructions for recreating the Ancient Nose Pipes of Central America. If that's what you're wanting, this is the book for you. ( )

Human sacrifice survives to tell his tale

There is a great deal of knowledge spewed out in A Brief History of Vice. Robert Evans has done the research and gone the extra mile, literally. He has gleefully offered his body to experience the various concoctions and chemicals he has discovered on paper from ancient civilizations. This can be something as simple as coffee bean energy balls that people ate before they learned to brew them, or tobacco five times as strong as the stuff we see today, giving people a legal high. There are revolting alcoholic mixtures which almost inevitably lead to sudden, violent regurgitation, and even the power of music to suffuse the body. It’s all in the name of science. Evans enthusiastically hits the trail to several continents in search of origins, and commandeers volunteers to help him experience it all. This might include hospital time or encounters with constables.

The book is a romp through everything we do wrong on purpose. There are recipes and guides so you can try it yourself at home. And there is history: who invented what and how they fared with it.

Evans is clearly holding back on us. He dumbs down his writing to make the book appealing to his audience of white males in the binge years, say 16-40. I got the feeling he dug deep, came up with lots of useful data, and discarded most of it in favor of a quick wink to his peeps. I am grateful every sentence did not begin with Dude! – but it gave me that feeling anyway.

Evans’ book is very tightly focused, well constructed and very effective in communicating the essential nature of vice in society. Some societies doted on it, leveraging it for unity and valor, while others banned and suppressed it, usually in complete futility. It is a pleasure to read, but one day, when he feels like it, I hope Evans takes his research efforts fully seriously and produces a work that breaks new ground and becomes a sound reference itself. He clearly has the chops.

David Winebeerg ( )