Dunn, 38 (which he assures me is 114 in professional-drinker years), is the author of a new book called “Nobody Likes a Quitter (And Other Reasons to Avoid Rehab).” The book serves as a booze-soaked travelogue that follows him from hard-drinking Aspen writer who slept on the floor of his friend’s apartment to hard-drinking, successful drinks columnist in Santa Monica, Calif.

Currently, he is the writer of the syndicated “The Imbiber,” a wine and spirits column for Metro International newspapers, as well as his own Web site at www.theimbiber.net.

The book, however, relates tales of drunken debauchery and chance celebrity encounters that often end with chaotic or embarrassing results.

While reading the energetic and chaotic tales of drunken excess, it’s not difficult to draw comparisons to the style of Hunter S. Thompson.

It’s a comparison Dunn doesn’t mind, as he personally knew Thompson when he lived in Aspen.

“I knew Hunter for 10 years,” he said. “I worked with him a bit; he was big influence. I always kind of feared that Hunter might shoot me some day. I was alert as possible when I was around him.”

Dunn’s desire to be a columnist and writer wasn’t borne of lofty journalistic aspirations, he said.

“It was more like I liked to whine, so I wrote it down,” he said. “This stuff kind of comes out of me, so I hope people find this entertaining enough.”

In addition to his column, Dunn also writes freelance stories for a variety of magazines, such as GQ. Because of this, he said his thought process, at times, can be a little chaotic.

“When you do what I do for a living, there’s this pervasive blurriness,” Dunn said. “Things don’t feel normal — or what I think normal would feel like. Writers I like have that same quality to their writing. Their viewpoint is one that comes from discomfort. Hunter never felt comfortable. That informed everything that he wrote.”

When it comes to his philosophy on his lifeblood, liquor, Dunn has some advice for college students.

Number one: Don’t blame things on the booze.

“Using alcohol as an excuse is something I think is in vogue,” he said. “If you’re gonna drink, don’t use booze as an excuse for something that would otherwise be part of your makeup.”

Number two: When it comes to the drink, throw caution to the wind, Dunn said.

“Drink irresponsibly,” he said. “Life lessons tend to make a bigger impression.”

Dunn’s moral behind that story, involving drinking, the nation of Haiti and a prostitute, cannot be reprinted in a family publication.

While his philosophy on drinking is simple, his theory on why college students (or anyone, really) should buy his book is even simpler.

“If you like to laugh, it’s funny,” Dunn said. “If you like to drink, there’s drinking stuff in there, and if you like to look at words, there’s, like, 65,000.”