Dale Peck's Humble Pie

Dale Peck and Rick Moody are not in a fight anymore. They actually e-mailed recently, and next Tuesday night, they will appear, together, at a book-themed charity bake sale at the Montauk Club that will benefit Sangam House, a nonprofit writer’s colony in India. This is a startling thing, because Mr. Peck once reviewed one of Mr. Moody’s books in The New Republic and called him “the worst writer of his generation.” Something like a feud followed. Six years later, it is, at least superficially, coming to an end. On Tuesday, according to event organizer D. W. Gibson, a bunch of writers (including Salman Rushdie) will bring homemade baked goods to the club and autograph books, which will all be sold in a silent auction. Then, at the end of the night, Mr. Moody and Mr. Peck will take the stage, and Mr. Moody will throw a pie in Mr. Peck’s face. Mr. Gibson called it “a fun opportunity to reduce their literary spat to its most base form.” Asked how he managed to convince the two writers to participate, Mr. Gibson said it was not so hard at all. “They both signed on relatively quickly. I talked to them individually,” he said. “They’ve been in touch, and they’ve kissed and made up. I received e-mails from both of them saying, ‘Thank you very much, we’re very happy.’” Mr. Peck declined to comment on his motivations for participating, but Mr. Moody said he is doing it because he believes in Mr. Gibson’s cause. “If I can help that cause and at the same time mock the dread seriousness of the literary world a little bit, then it’s a home run, as far as I’m concerned.”

New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, who published Mr. Peck’s takedown of Mr. Moody, said, “It’s nice to know that peace is breaking out somewhere.”