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 (on $ale here) |
The Last Bartenderby Anthony F. Lewis Overview:Set in the near future, The Last Bartender follows Justin Gardiner, a highly-decorated Operation Enduring Freedom veteran who returns home to work as a bartender. Just a few years into his new career, rising healthcare costs and other political factors lead to a new prohibition on alcohol - all bars are closed, retail alcohol sales are halted and criminalized, and Justin finds himself out of work. Soon afterwards, Justin and his barroom cohorts buy a rundown Catskill resort and set up an ambitious bootlegging operation, supplying keg beer to the New York City area. Events start rapidly spiraling out of control as the Drug Enforcement Agency closes its net and the mob aggressively moves in on the moneymaking operation, leaving Justin and his friends caught in the crossfire of the opposing forces.From the author:While The Last Bartender is not overtly political, it's certainly not particularly deferential to the powers that be. Whether an actual new prohibition on alcohol is a real danger or not, given the water already under the societal bridge -- the socialization of health care responsibility, the normalization of government interference and regulation in personal dietary matters, the marginalization and confiscatory taxation of tobacco use, and, of course, the existing Drug War -- it's unfortunate that this is not terribly difficult to imagine. The main characters in The Last Bartender are not revolutionaries; they're just a group of friends that actively resist their own infantilization at the hands of the all-knowing central planners. They're determined, they're funny, and are a generally likable bunch. I'd like to think that most people would enjoy hoisting a beer or two with them, whether it be a regular home brew or their particularly illegal Maximum Meltdown brand. |
