B Is for Beer by Tom Robbins

Daddy and Uncle Moe LOVE beer, and six-year old Gracie Perkle learns about their love and life through a visit by the beer fairy after one bubbling sip.

"A Children's Book for Grown-ups. A Grown-up Book for Children."



Rating: Three Stars***

Genre: Humor

Summary: Kindergartner Gracie Perkle learns about the world's most popular beverage through her dad and Uncle Moe's love for beer. When her curiosity turns into a childhood obsession (even to the extent that she gets in trouble for talking about the 'Devil's drink' in Sunday school), she guzzles down a beer on her 6th birthday, then vomits and passes out into a mystical haze. In this dream, the beer fairy pays her a visit and takes her through the beer making process beginning with the fields of wheat all the way to the end where the vats of beer are left ferment. In the process Gracie learns some life lessons, while promising the fairy that she will wait until she's 18 and will never get behind the wheel under the influence.

Evaluation: Tom Robbins has a gift for writing humorous novels, and B for Beer doesn't fail to amuse. I usually find young characters to be obnoxious (see the review for The Last Good Man), but Gracie is intelligent and charming about her curiosity for the alcoholic beverage. Tom Robbins is also able to incorporate some tiny spurts of knowledge in the story.

Read-a-likes:The Modern Drunkard by Frank Kelly Rich
any series by Christopher Moore
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max