Enjoy a night at Rienzi for an evening reception and salon. Joanna O'Leary will lead a talk and discussion on cocktails and characters from 20th-century American literature.

If "you are what you eat," is it also true that a drink can define you? The rise of the cocktail in the 20th-century is reflected in this period's most notable real and fictional personas, many of whom came to be associated with certain mixed drinks. Discover how booze reflects biography in works such as The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, In Cold Blood and others and why the personal signature cocktail is such a strong component of literary conceptualizations of American individualism.

Rienzi opens its doors at 6:30 p.m., one hour before the salon, treating guests to an open house tour of the collection and social time over wine and bites. The reception is followed by and an engaging short lecture and group discussion.