Wiktionary
barrel fever
n. intoxication or illness from intemperance in drink
Wikipedia
Barrel Fever
Barrel Fever and Other Stories is a 1994 collection of short stories and essays by David Sedaris. The book is divided into two sections. The first section consists of short fiction and the second half contains autobiographical essays. The most famous of the essays is " SantaLand Diaries", the essay that made Sedaris famous when he read it on National Public Radio in 1992. The essay tells of his experiences working as an elf at Macy's.