February 3, 2015

Cocktail Talk: A Man’s Head

a-mans-headNot too long ago I had my first George Simenon Cocktail Talk post, and in that very post mentioned that I thought I’d probably have more – and I was right! I’ve read a few more Inspector Maigret books since then, most recently A Man’s Head. And it was a good yarn indeed, fast-paced, intriguing, nicely mysterious, and really tightly plotted. Everything you’d want (if what you want is a worthy book, that is). Also, a fair amount of the action takes place in bars, which I’m all for, as you might guess. The main bar is the American bar in the Cupole, where Maigret makes a sorta rare foray into cocktails.

He heard someone call out.‘A Manhattan.’

And he said: ‘The same for me.’

He was not himself of the cocktail generation. Beer was more in his line. The barman pushed a dish of olives toward him, but he did not touch them.

A Man’s Head, George Simenon

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David Simmons said:

Thanks!
I suspect you’ll enjoy this article: “Maigret’s Drinks: the Chief Inspector’s Spectrum” by Murielle Wenger, who often provides extremely thorough analyses on Maigret subjects. For example, herein she notes Maigret only drank whiskey 13 times in the 74 novels and the first time was in the one you’ve just reviewed. Translated by Steve Trussel, another expert on Maigret, the article can be read here: http://www.trussel.com/maig/boisson-e.htm

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