Why We’re Quitting Big Alcohol

This year, as Sober October is upon us again, we at Repeater Books have started to revisit some of the key issues about alcohol and harm reduction brought up in our recent release, Drinking Up the Revolution: How To Smash Big Alcohol and Reclaim Working Class Joy.

Written by Canadian author James Wilt, the book outlines the harmful effects of Big Alcohol – one of the most powerful and profitable industries in the world – and how this constellation of massive corporations, lobby groups and governments faces almost no scrutiny for the immense health and social harms it causes.

The publishing industry is well known, like those in the business of politics, music and so on, to be heavily associated with alcohol consumption, but this traditional, social behaviour can also work to the detriment of our social lives and health. To quote Don Draper in Mad Men, when he called out the Tobacco industry in a memorable scene,

“For over 25 years we devoted ourselves to peddling a product for which good work is irrelevant, because people can’t stop themselves from buying it. A product that never improves, that causes illness, and makes people unhappy. But there was money in it. A lot of money. In fact, our entire business depended on it. We knew it wasn’t good for us, but we couldn’t stop. And then, when Lucky Strike moved their business elsewhere, I realized, here was my chance to be someone who could sleep at night, because I know what I’m selling doesn’t kill my customers.”

So as of today, at least for the month of October, the Repeater Books Publicity Team will no longer consume Big Alcohol products. We know it’s going to be hard. If you’re also interested in fighting Big Alcohol, please read James’ incredible new book, which is a sobering read, but also an inspiring one – reminding us all that there is joy beyond drinking.

To quote Don Draper again, “we’re certain that our best work is still ahead of us”.

Sincerely,
Marketing and Publicity Team, Repeater Books.