Publishers Weekly wrote: "Though he admits inviting the charge of elitism with some of his material, Cross avoids condescending to his demographic while knocking out a steady stream of laugh-out-loud quips." Nigel Duara of The State Journal-Register wrote that the book "doesn't hold up nearly as well" as Cross's on-stage comedy and that it "isn't so much a profanity-laden polemic as a series of decently aimed critiques that reserves its sharpest criticism for hipster culture." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters gave the book a 5/10 and wrote: "What’s unfortunate is that Cross' thoughtful, considered standup routines do not prepare you for the wildly uneven, remarkably slapdash effort that is I Drink for a Reason, a hit-or-miss collection of jokes from someone we expect far, far better from."