And in our continuing coverage of noteworthy occurrences at last night's social events, here's the quote of the day, from Al Goldstein's I, Goldstein: My Screwed Life reading at Soho's McNally Robinson bookstore. He had been asked whether he was surprised his memoir received major, and favorable, coverage in Sunday's Times Book Review:

"I was shocked. When every piece of furniture and your underwear are taken by the bank, when you lose your house in Florida, in New York, in Amsterdam and L.A., when your wife is dying and your son abandons you, you don't feel very good. I'm not very optimistic. I mean, do you want me to be like Pangloss and say that this is the best of all possible worlds? I gave up the lithium and I'm trying to stay alive, but I have enough Ambien to kill myself."

He did allow, however, that he was pleased with the evening's turnout and the crowd's enthusiastic response. "That makes me not want to kill myself," he said.

— Mary Reinholz