Wednesday, February 01, 2006

McInerney on the Undercard

One-time literary wonderboy Jay McInerney comes to the Free Library of Philadelphia Thursday evening (the event isn't free) to read or lecture or wine-drink or vomit or snort or merely present himself on display as a fossilized corpse. He's not even the headliner!-- merely the opening act for the "Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture" by charisma-challenged Brit Julian Barnes. How far the trendy have fallen.

The affair is a local attempt to demonstrate that "Literature" belongs to upper-middle-class-and-above snobs. It will be a gathering of the perpetually boring and bored. Genteel to the max. Don't expect fireworks.

Note for those who wish to attend: Giving $10,000 annually qualifies you as a member of the Dickens Circle of the George S. Pepper Society, which gets you TWO subscription packages to these sleep-inducing events. Hey, it's for a good cause. To quote John Lennon, you can rattle your jewelry in lieu of applause.

(The ULA, meanwhile, likely will be lecturing elsewhere.)

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