Next week I’ll be serving on a panel of writers in an event at the Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street (between 5th & 6th Aves). The event is a collaboration of the Hotel, newly spruced up, and my publisher, Penguin, as part of BEA (BookExpo America) week activities. The idea in particular is to celebrate the history and spirit of the Roundtable, in the back of the hotel when you walk in — best known for the lethal witticisms of Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Bennet Cerf, et al. — which the Algonquin wants to re-imagine for the 21st century.
Dorothy Parker: “What fresh hell is this?”
I’ll be talking about the fresh hell of The Orphanmaster, and how it came to be. If you feel like coming, the evening’s open to the public as well as hotel patrons. It’s 5:30 to 6:30 on Wednesday, June 6th. I doubt dry martinis will be gratis, but they’re pretty good here anyway.
More Parker:
“I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I’m under the table,
after four I’m under my host.”
Parker
Jean Zimmerman 