The medical evidence is clear--alcohol is bad for you. But will this alone be enough to end our complex love affair with booze?

Society's dependence on alcohol goes far beyond the physical. We drink to celebrate, commiserate, socialize and mark the passage into adulthood. Individuals who opt out--with or without "a drinking problem"-- must re-invent themselves in multiple contexts. Combining memoir and analysis, author Veronica Woodruff chronicles the evolution of one family's drinking culture against the backdrop of society's quest for a healthy relationship with alcohol.