A stylish literary throng of bookworms were bound together for Inprint's young professionals mixer Monday night. The fourth annual "Books and Bellinis," chaired by Marc Eichenbaum with support from a coterie of personal friends plus fans of the written word, welcomed 120 guests to a chatty scene at Birraporetti's prior to the season conclusion of the Margarett Root Brown Reading Series at the Alley Theatre.
Inprint's executive director Rich Levy and marketing director Krupa Parikh were thrilled at the attendance that exceeded last year's numbers.
The two-chapter social that began with an indulgent spread of pizza, stuffed mushrooms, spinach artichoke dip and frozen pink bevs offered close and personal time with featured authors, Jonathan Lethem and John Jeremiah Sullivan, alongside Texas Monthly editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein, who later interviewed these two wordsmiths of international repute on the theater stage.
These trio of professionals were all at one time affiliated with Harper's Magazine. During their tenure, they developed mutual respect for one another. Silverstein described Lethem as possessing a great style and a twisted mind — one of his favorite writers working in journalism today. Lethem, who hadn't set foot in Houston since he was a child, admitted to having a cultural fascination with Sullivan's prose.
Following gifts and giveaways — among the lucky ones were Abraham Luna, Eli Wald and Adam Curley — Young Professionals joined the 500 bibliophiles eager to hear Sullivan read from an essay titled "Michael" from the book Pulphead and Lethem read from the essay "Live Nude Models" from his book The Ecstasy of Influence.
In the assemblage were Rachel and Daniel Fein, Meghan Miller, Beverly Barrett, Eugene Tunitsky, Michael Long, Misty Matin, Alison Jeffries, Seth Kretzer, Meredith Moore, Anita Barksdale, Courtney Carlson, Julie Farris, Amy Pengra, Wendy Rentschler, Ashley Claypoole, Michael McIntyre, Doreen Stoller, Tim Ballengee, Matt Hennem, Beth Taylor, Carter Stern and Jessica Hart.
Seth Kretzer, from left, Meredith Moore, Anita Barksdale and Courtney Carlson
