Rich Lit Crowd Talks "About Money"

ANCIENT HISTORY Lapham, Carter (Photo: Getty Images) Isn't it enlightening to hear rich people talk about money?! Last night the Accompanied Literary Society toasted the spring issue of Lewis Lapham's literary journal, Lapham's Quarterly, with on topic readings "About Money" at the David Chu Bespoke townhouse in Manhattan, culminating in a rousing passage from Ayn Rand by actor Richard Dreyfuss.

Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter reminisced about his days as a poor young media addict hunting for work, describing his first meeting with Lapham, some 30 years ago, when the elder man was at the helm of Harper's. As Carter huffed and puffed in the summer heat, drenched with sweat, so the story went, Lapham suggested he go find work at Foreign Affairs, where the starting salary was $12,000, leaving Carter to bask in the air conditioning until he regained his composure. "And that's why I'm here," Graydon chuckled before being whisked off with his wife to an unnamed "glamorous dinner party." Of course, while Carter was once outraged at the thought of being paid $12,000, we imagine that number now seems rather quaint. It's like half of a Vanity Fair editorial assistant!