Bourbon and Books: Chain-Gang All-Stars

There are some books you read that will stick with you long after, for reasons you can't explain because the book is so beautifully written and captivating that whatever you say will sound either pedantic or overly simplistic.

Chain-Gang All-Stars is such a book.

Before I fail miserably at trying to convince you to read the book, I can say that after the first chapter I immediately knew that the pairing for Chain-Gang All Stars would be New Dawn's first signature cocktail, 40 acres and a Mule, because both invoke beauty, hope, and moments of joy while being rooted in the complicated history of Black people in America.

Like our featured cocktail, Chain-Gang All Stars is a love story delicately centered on broken promises - not between lovers but between those only interested in their own power, wealth, and perceived sense of safety and those seeking and championing the right to humanity and freedom.

In this world, the US prison system has been turned into a brutal gladiator style reality program where inmates fight to the death for the chance at early freedom. Though written as fiction, current practices of our legal and prison system are intricately woven throughout making it heartbreakingly obvious that such a scenario could happen in real life sooner than we think.

A truly stunning book and required reading for all.