ABSOLUT Biography of a Bottle by Carl Hamilton ©1994,2000 This 6¼"x9¼" hardcover book was written in Swedish in 1994 and finally published in 2000 with an English translation by Scott Clarke and Steven Leto. Mr. Hamilton is one of the top literary voices in Sweden; he's a TV host, a political commentator and a newspaper columnist. In August 2000, he wrote the book's Preface. Carl Hamilton's book is the inside, untold story of modern Absolut. Quotes on the book jacket include: "(The book) is a joyous and outrageous escapade into the high regions of both the literary sublime and Absolut farce. * It may well survive the vodka of which it is the ironic celebration." "To drink vodka or to smoke a cigar is a sublime experience. Absolut, by Carl Hamilton, is also in that category."

ABSOLUT EVERYTHING is one early provisional ad featured in the 16-page pictorial in the center of the book. It's a wide ad with the logo on the left half and a picture of the bottle on the right. It was also done with ABSOLUT DISTINCTIV and ABSOLUT WELCOM. Another was THE SPIRIT OF SWEDEN logo written across a photo of a forest bathed in sunlight; the bottom half of the ad was the bottle. In another provisional ad, THE ABSOLUT OF VODKAS logo filled the top half of a page, with the bottle below. The pictorial center also has a picture of the first bottle and smaller photos of 6 Absolut ads: Perfection, Clarity, Attraction, Elegance, Peak and Warhol.

My son bought the book for me as a belated birthday gift at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. I'm sure that it'll be a big gift item for Christmas 2000. Enjoy one of the 14 chapters each night with an ice-cold Absolut Kurant, but only if you're of legal age to drink!
Summary by DaveZ