Friday, December 5

New Yorker writer eschews big weird hair trend in favor of subdued product-tie in! Ben Greenman and his book, Correspondences, are waltzed around the room by Jack Spade, maker of high-end men’s messenger bags. (The good Mr. Greenman wrote text to adorn the nifty passport covers sold by Mr. Spade.) Is your head spinning yet? “Not that I don’t buy things, but I’m not a retail-minded person in that way,” said Mr. Greenman, who is responsible for the Goings On About Town section of David Remnick’s unstoppable rag. “If you gave me a list of three designers or stores, I could probably say, ‘Oh yeah, I walked by that once.’” Sure, pal! Not that he doesn’t plan to enjoy himself at this swish event! “I was actually planning on not reading and just letting people mill around and drink the custom drink that’s been created,” said Mr. Greenman. Oh, sir, we had one of those “custom drinks” back in college—we woke up on a frigate bound for Gibraltar.

[Ben Greenman, Hotel St. George Press, Jack Spade and Idlewild Books toast Correspondences, Idlewild Books, 12 West 19th Street, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., events@idlewildbooks.com]

mbryan@observer.com