Naturally, when Intel Chris and Jessica turned up at the book party for Gossip Girl creator Cecily von Ziegesar’s latest output, Cum Laude, the first thing we said was: “So talk to us about the filthy dirty title of your new book!” Cecily, ever the charming host, obliged. “When I started I knew it was going to be three books: Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude.” (The books, departures from her Gossip Girl world of New York, are set in the early nineties and center around a new cast of characters at a small college in Maine: “Pretty rich girl Shipley, rebel-without-a-cause Eliza, repressed-artist Tom, and hippie-spawn Nick.”) Soon enough, Cecily caught on to the risqué aspect of the title. “Of course I’ve been calling it ‘Cum Loudly,’” she laughed, telling us about the first version of the cover she saw, which featured a young girl. “I saw the cover and the word ‘cum’ was right over her mouth,” she gaped. “I was like, did nobody look at this??”
We love that Cecily. Unfortunately Luckily for everyone involved, we had already headed on to our next party when the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City started turning up.
