Sheckels Book VI

It’s always a good time for reading here at Bookses and Booze. I’ll take any excuse, and March 2 was “Read Across America Day”, which counts in my book. There’s also “World Book Day” which is coming up on April 23. I’ve taken the liberty of selected our next book club pick, which I know you’re going to love as much as I do.

Bill relates the impetus for his series of Book puzzles came from … a book! Puzzles in Wood, by Edwin Wyatt, is one of two small volumes by Wyatt on puzzle making that Bill owns. Inside its pages he found a design for a simple puzzle box that looks like a wooden book. He made it, but felt that it was too flimsy. He devised a way to make it more sturdy with a modification to the design and the inclusion of a few magnets. He didn’t make many of these original Book puzzles, because he felt they were too easy to solve. What many people refer to as his first Book puzzle box is thus actually his second, the Book II, which built on the first version by adding a new locking component and a “sequential discovery” aspect, while maintaining the essentials of the original. I suppose we can call it the second edition printing with a new forward by Bill.

After that first (and second) book, Bill fell into a groove as a successful writer. He went on the pen many best sellers which his publisher has rereleased a number of times. Like any great mystery writer, it became a fun challenge to come up with novel mechanisms within the same style and format, presenting something at once comfortingly familiar, and yet, surprising! Various plot devices and conventions would tickle the back of his brain, such as the Japanese epic he wrote in Book V. Another idea he had always thought about creating required a certain key element he wanted to include, but he simply never found the write words to express his feelings. As fate would have it, he was working on a new chest (he is, first and foremost, an accomplished furniture maker), and came across just the thing that would work for his idea. Serendipitously he had also been working out how to reveal a certain component of the “plot”, and the story all came together quickly. His Book VI was released to critical acclaim and seemed to tickle the fancy of his many fans, so much so that the book sold out instantly and was quickly followed by a second printing. Bill can’t recall if it was actually Book V or VI that sold out instantly, which I imagine must be a nice problem to have as a best selling author. I’m pretty sure they both sold out instantly. Only time will tell if there will be a Book VII someday, but in the meantime Bill is working on the next batch of his Art Deco Clock – a puzzle that ticks all the right boxes.

I imagine that I’m not the only one who has a favorite spot in which to sit and read a good book. At times there may even be a cocktail close at hand, at least when there isn’t a good cup of coffee. There are plenty of excellent literary cocktails to choose from, and this time I’ve selected an old favorite, the Hemingway daiquiri. Like any really good classic, this one comes with a story. It’s named after one of the greats of twentieth century writing, after all. The drink was born in Havana Cuba, at El Floridita, a bar made famous by it and by its famous patron. Ernest Hemingway loved Cuba, and visited and lived there on many occasions starting in 1928. Before he bought his “Lookout Farm” house on the outskirts of the city, where he wrote Islands in the Stream, A Moveable Feast, and The Old Man and the Sea, he would stay at the Hotel Ambos Mundos. On many afternoons, he strolled from the hotel down to El Floridita, where Constantino Ribalaigua Vert would make him a special version of the house daiquiri. In those days, a daiquiri was (as it should still be) a pure mix of white rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar, and at La Floridita it was served en frappé, a reliable way to beat the afternoon heat. Hemingway would have his as a double – twice the rum – and without the sugar. His “double frozen daiquiri” became known fondly as the “Papa doble”.

 Ribalaigua, a legend in Cuba at that time, was known familiarly as El Rey de los Coteleros (the King of Cocktails). Hemingway would bring his friends, fellow writers, actors and guests to the bar to have the best daiquiri in town. Years later, El Floridita’s then head bartender Antonio Meilan modified the original Papa Doble, which is very strong and dry, balancing it with grapefruit juice and a touch of cherry liqueur. This became the Hemingway Special which is how the drink is known today. It’s still fairly strong and dry, but nonetheless quite delicious, and truly best served blended on a hot day. Of course, many recipes now exist, with vastly different amounts of every single ingredient in this simple cocktail, so you’ll have to find out which edition you prefer by reading them all. Book-mark it for your next beach read, and happy Book Day. Cheers!

Hemingway Special

1½ - 3½ oz white rum

¼ - 1 oz fresh grapefruit

¼ - ¾ oz maraschino liqueur

¾ - 1 oz lime

0 - ½ oz simple syrup