Algonquin Round Table

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What Fresh PR Initiative Is This?: Literary Greats on the Current Attempt to Reengineer the Algonquin Round Table

“This hotel is exactly how I would have imagined the Algonquin transforming itself in the 21st century,” announced Penguin Books CEO David Shanks to an attentive crowd last week.

A single person clapped and, realizing they were all alone, stopped.

Mr. Shanks continued, “It exudes the grandeur of Gotham and the dazzle of the iconic Mad Men design gone modern.” Mr. Shanks cleared his throat. “It’s really amazing.”

Last Monday, a group (of “top hotel and publishing executives as well as media industry influencers,” per a press release) was gathered at a private party to celebrate the grand reopening of the gut-renovated hotel and the launch of its new partnership with Penguin Books. Read More

EatPrayWhat?

Elizabeth Gilbert: In Her Own Words

This Sunday, The Times pays a visit to Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert’s store-it’s located in New Jersey and sells Southeast Asian imports. In between showing off her teak boxes and giant Buddhas, Gilbert has a lot to say! For example:

  • On her store, which she purchased and renovated with the movie Read More

Eat, Pray, Promote… Hey, Julia, Where's the Love?

“I don’t have as much estrogen as this storyline does,” David Lyons, the Australian actor who plays Ian in the Eat Pray Love adaptation, said last night on the red carpet of the film’s premiere at the Ziegfeld.

Then Lyons backtracked for a second. “And that’s not a bad thing-it’s about rediscovering yourself.”

The celluloid Read More

How to Change Your Life in One Year! Completely

“Oh my God, my life was a total mess,” said 42-year-old Cathy Alter. “Seriously, I was married for almost five years, unhappily. … We hadn’t had sex in a really long time. I felt like his mommy—it just wasn’t good for me. I just felt kind of mean all the time. Mean and angry. And Read More