You know it’s not going to be a stuffy literary party when the cocktail hour (er, hours) have enough energy to power all of K-Town. That was the scene the other night at The Line Hotel for the Young Literati’s Seventh Annual Toast benefiting the Los Angeles Public Library. People in their 20s, 30s, and 40s (it wasn’t a Logan’s Run type of thing; there were some partiers beyond that age range, like The Doors’ super-cool John Densmore) to raise awareness and support for public libraries and the LAPL in particular. Long-time library supporter and Kogi king Roy Choi walked purposefully around the bash making sure everyone was being fed (we were—those deviled eggs are so good) and the drinks flowed. There was an especially tasty cocktail called the Honey Bee that was extremely popular.
After all were lubricated, notables like Colin Hanks, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jason Reitman, Mae Whitman, Jenny Slate, and others got up to read books from the night’s theme, noir. Slate was the first up to read—well, to try to read. “The bartender’s really did it,” she joked. She then proceeded to read from Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. Colin Hanks was having a good time, too. “Two Old Fashioneds and public reading, what could go wrong?” he said. Hanks was reading from Jerry Stahl’s Permanent Midnight when he decided to skip over the bluer bits. “I’ll read it to you later,” he said as he blushed. “Another Old Fashioned and I’ll even whisper it to you.” More readings were followed by an electric performance by La Santa Cecilia. Then there were more cocktails and conversation by the pool. Shepard Fairey and Dean Hata DJed. Be a joiner, pop by one of the Young Literati’s next events. There are more to come this summer.
