Media Life

January 30, 2003

Modern Drunkard, living the lush life
Its motto: 'Because one drink is never enough'

By Jeff Bercovici

If you have a hobby, whether it's fly-fishing, doll collecting or re-enacting the Civil War, chances are you can find several magazines that cater to your interest.

For devotees of one of the world's most popular and time-honored pursuits, however -- a pastime favored by many, perhaps most, of history's greatest figures -- there is but one publication.

The hobby is getting hammered. The magazine is Modern Drunkard.
Published out of Denver, Modern Drunkard (motto: "Because one drink is never enough") is exactly what its name suggests: a magazine for people who drink often and vigorously.

Articles in its December 2002 issue include "Lush for Life: Making liquor a lifelong ambition" and "Defending Dionysos: An exploration of the inextricable bond between alcohol and art."

There's also "Clash of the Tightest," a sort of fantasy league round-robin in which "history's greatest drunks" (Babe Ruth, William Faulkner, Winston Churchill, etc.) square off against each other in imaginary drinking bouts, and "Inspiration Through Inebriation," gag posters that parody the popular line of motivational aides called Successories. (One "inspirational" message reads "Blacking Out: Because Sometimes You Just Don't Want to Remember.")
Frank Kelly Rich, Modern Drunkard's publisher and editor, says he started the magazine in 1996 as "kind of a spoof."

"I was going to start a ‘zine called Modern Nihilist, but I was like, Nihilism is so done," he says. "Then I realized that the best thing to write about is what everybody's doing, which is drinking."

In the time since, Rich, a science-fiction writer who has worked as a bartender and bouncer, has come to see Modern Drunkard as having a serious mission that goes beyond entertaining people in bars: defending the right of drinkers to live as they choose without enduring constant criticism and interference from moralistic individuals and governments.

"They've never really had a voice before, a voice that caters to them and says, It's okay to drink," he says.

The stigma attached to drinking is unfair given what a central role alcohol has played in culture and history, argues Rich.

"The greatest people of history, especially recent history, have been functional alcoholics. We were founded on alcohol. The first thing they set up in any western town was the tavern."

He traces the widespread disapproval of drinkers and drinking back to a Puritan tradition of "drinking a lot and then feeling really bad about it the next day."

Modern Drunkard distributes 10,000 copies of each issue free to bars and stores in Denver. An additional 4,000 copies are sold nationwide through Borders bookstores and some newsstands. Rich is currently in the process of arranging for free distribution in other hard-drinking cities including New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and New Orleans.

"I think we have the product and content for a much wider base than we have now," he says. "Eventually we want to break into all the larger drinking markets."

Modern Drunkard's January issue is the first to use four-color printing, and the magazine just landed its first national advertiser, Molson's beer. Meanwhile, Rich is trying to enter an alcohol-themed film he made several years ago into small film festivals. He describes the movie as a fictional story about a heavy drinker with "a very pro-drinking attitude."

As the magazine comes to the attention of a wider public, however, it's sure to encounter more resistance from the groups Rich accuses of trying to take the fun out of getting wasted -- especially since Modern Drunkard has been known to strike first.

Rich is particularly critical of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which he says has outlived its usefulness and overstepped its mandate.

"They’ll lobby against anything that has to do with drinking," he says. "But it’s such a sacred cow. Everyone’s afraid to attack them."
An article in the December issue about road trips recommends that drivers drink only one beer every 40 miles and keep mints handy in case of getting pulled over.

But while his magazine may encourage reckless behavior in its readers, Rich himself has been leading a somewhat tamer personal life lately.

Usually, he consumes at least four drinks a day on weekdays, more on the weekends and during benders, he says.

"It's ironic, though: Since the magazine has started to take off, I've had less time to drink."

Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.