Overview

Absinthe, an elixir made of alcohol and herbs, is a booming business. Yet it is still an underground culture, associated with mystery, romance, and bohemian lifestyles, in keeping with its popularity among the writers, artists, and other ne'er-do-wells. First produced in eighteenth century, the spirit, known as ""the Green Fairy,"" was banned worldwide by 1914 before the bans were gradually overturned beginning in 2005, the year Switzerland relegalized absinthe. Enter a bon vivant who inveigles his way into the private Facebook groups where the modern absinthe demimonde converges and charms some of the best minds (and palates) in the beverage world into thinking that he was selling them precious vintage pre-ban bottles. How did he get away with it? The Absinthe Forger pieces together the forger's subterfuge and motivation. It shows how absinthe can transform a person--and even connect drinkers with a deeper, often hidden sense of self. Rail digs deep into the modern absinthe underground, whose members are still frantic to find the last remaining bottles of pre-ban absinthe, and he visits modern producers of the spirit, who have, in a generation, changed in status from daring criminal bootleggers to sought-after celebrities. The Absinthe Forger is a bizarre crime drama that will make you never look at wormwood in the same way again.

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Evan Rail writes about food, drink, and travel for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Saveur, BeerAdvocate, Smithsonian Travel, National Geographic Travel, Fodor's, *Wallpaper, and the Lonely Planet's Global Beer Tour. His monthly ""Free Pour"" column at the popular site VinePair has been nominated for the International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards. Evan has appeared on several television programs, most notably showing Anthony Bourdain around the world of Czech food and drink on the television show No Reservations and drinking Czech beer during an interview with Phil Black on CNN. He has explained what it is like to bathe in beer on the Discovery Channel's How Stuff Works and been quoted on where to drink in Prague in USA Today. Radio interviews with Evan have appeared on the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Prague, and Hungarian National Radio. He regularly records podcasts for Good Beer Hunting, where he works as international editor. Evan's poems and essays have appeared in The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement, Poetry Review, Agni, Metre, and Zyzzyva. Mike Lenz has been an audiobook narrator and voice actor for more than fourteen years. Having narrated titles in genres ranging from fiction, entertainment, science, and children's literature to Christian, business, self-help, and history, Mike loves bringing nonfiction and fiction stories to life with his engaging, confident, and trustworthy voice. Mike's broad background includes voicing commercials, eLearning projects, real estate videos, corporate and web-based videos, and brand imaging, appearing in regional and national television commercials as an on-camera talent, and serving as the mayor of his hometown of Saratoga Springs, New York. Mike is also a Voice Arts Award-nominated podcast producer as well as an author. He is a frequent speaker at learning and voice-over conferences. Mike currently lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and four children.

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